The Snow Queen and the FireHeart
by LeGrande Grover
Summary: Just before the MidWinters Ball, Anna is kidnapped and it's up to Elsa and Kristoff to go after her. Their journey will take them beyond Arendelle's borders to the kingdom of Fria, where deep within the volcano rests the FireHeart, and the will of a cruel man.
1. MidWinters Ball

**I**

MidWinters Ball

Just before MidWinter in the kingdom of Arendelle, the people were planning to celebrate the longest night of the year by filling the castle with light, laughter and cheer. Torches were burning brightly all around town and rendered the frozen landscape aglow. It was the time of year when the sun barely rose in the sky and the night seemed to last forever. Despite the absence of sunlight, the town was alight with preparations for one of Arendelle's oldest traditions; the MidWinters Ball. In spite of its ancient heritage, it had been many years since the castle had been the center of the celebration. It was a celebration of light to combat the long winter of darkness. There was a grand feast and lots of music. The formal ball was a masked affair, to scare away the spirits that kept the night long and to bring the sun back to the kingdom.

Princess Anna had been running around the town as it transformed around her. Her heart was alight and a melody was at her lips. For years, she had watched the town alight with songs and dancing, sometimes dancing alone in front of the windows to fight the loneliness born from locked doors and secrets. Those days had fallen behind her as once more as Arendelle celebrated the reign of her Queen, and Anna was eager to celebrate one of the most cherished traditions in the kingdom. Tagging along with her was Olaf, who had been in awe at the festivities, even with his beloved summer so far away.

"Look at all of the decorations! I can't believe they found flowers at this time of year. Ooo, grilled mackerel!" Anna cheered, walking around the bustling square where the residents were preparing. Strangely, she could hear the sound of a distant flute being played, and she paused to try and make out the beautiful tune. It was a lonely melody, but it captured her for a moment.

"I know. Isn't it great? This will be the best party I've ever been to!" Olaf agreed.

Anna lost the distant melody and shrugged, looking down to him with a smirk. "How many parties have you been to before?"

"None. Why?" Olaf replied.

Anna laughed off his remark and felt moved by the atmosphere, jumping into a lantern pole and looking out over the sea of people. "You're right. This _will _be the best party ever. The last one had some hiccups and lots of snow, but this time I'm sure everyone will have a great time. Especially Elsa," she said. Hopping down, she smiled sheepishly as she boots spun smoothly across the frozen cobblestones. "I mean, we've already got the snow."

Olaf was busy rummaging through a half-built stall with various bottles filled with colored liquids. "Oh oh! Look, Anna! I have the greatest idea," he called, taking out a small sheet of paper and rolling it into a cone. "We can put a scoop of snow in a paper cone, drip some of this sweet juice on it and people can eat it to stay warm!"

The snowman presented the treat to her. It looked very colorful and smelled great. When she took a bite, it did not make her any warmer, as expected, but it was tasty and she smiled. "It's delicious, Olaf. And it's just snow in a paper cone."

"I call it…a SweetJuice Cone," he said proudly.

Anna was about to suggest a better name when she happened to catch a glance of her sister, Queen Elsa, as she stood on the docks near the anchored ships. As always, she stood as a stark contrast to the world around, even in the winter. Where everyone wore thick fur coats and heavy boots, Elsa still wore an elegant dress that would have left any other exposed to the elements. Anna was a bit envious at how the cold never bothered her. Since finding Elsa was mostly the reason she had wandered out of the castle, she started to walk over to speak to her when she caught wind of the disagreement that was happening between the tall admiral next to her and one of the ship captains. At a distance, she could only see how angry the admiral was, and while Elsa appeared calm, she obviously shared in his mood. The captain they spoke to was foreign, with distinctly different clothes and wildly unkempt hair. His mood was far more relaxed in the face of the stiff posture of the admiral. Anna could tell it was no time to approach them, so she lingered behind some crates and strained to listen, munching mindlessly on Olaf's treat.

"Your Highness, surely one ship makes no difference in your big, impressive harbor. My men have sailed a thousand moonless nights through waters far more treacherous than these. If you'd just grant my request to disembark, I'd no longer be a burden on your exquisite shoulders," the Captain cooed in a heavy accent, treading a fine line between charm and insult.

Elsa remained cool, but the admiral was barely holding his anger back. "Your request has been denied seven times already. To have the Queen come down personally is more than you deserve, you musty seadog. Your ship may not depart until after…"

The Captain shot the officer a glance, obviously not interested in talking to him while the infamous Snow Queen was standing right before him. "You speak of insult, sir, but I am speaking to your Queen, not you. I bid you to bite your wagging tongue and allow this vision of elegance and beauty to speak on her own behalf," he interrupted, though his tone was not without something sharp aimed at her.

The admiral fumed, but Elsa's candid step towards the ship restrained him. "The harbor is closed until the end of MidWinter, by tradition. You are welcome to join in the celebration with your crew and when the sun once more touches the northern spire, you may depart," Elsa noted, not looking amused by his antics either.

"Your Highness, surely there is some kind of compromise…" the Captain began, but a sharp glance from her silenced him.

"Good day, Captain."

With the matter closed, she turned and began to walk away from the man with her admiral in tow, until the smug captain regained his gait and threw his boot onto the mooring post, nodding towards the frigid waters. "You may keep your celebrations of night and winter, m'lady. The Southern Seas beckon me, and I am set to go. You may never even know I was here," he said, intent upon defying her.

By now, the admiral was no longer content to speak to him and was going to deal with the man and his insolence, when Elsa also stopped and casually threw her hand out towards his ship. A wave of ice devoured the side of the ship, reaching all the way to the dock, where even the captain's boot was frozen to the mooring post. The clawed wing of ice held the ship in place, enforcing her will. The man shrieked, trying desperately pry his boot loose before looking to the Queen with terror in his eyes.

Elsa turned her head cordially to him. "Good day, Captain." With no further business, she walked away from the harbor and back towards the castle, leaving the admiral to gloat at the Captain's plight.

Heaving a sigh of relief at leaving the harbor, Elsa rubbed her temple and tried to get the throbbing to go away. "Ugh, what a pretentious man," she grumbled to herself, just as Anna popped out from her hiding place.

"Wow, Elsa! What was that all about?" she asked, a ring of blue juice on her lips.

Elsa was surprised and happy to see her, but soon her dark mood came back as she looked back towards the frozen ship. "It's nothing. A ship wanted to depart before MidWinter, so I was _explaining_ to them why they couldn't," she said. Seeing the crew of the ship trying to chip away at her ice to free their captain improved her mood slightly. Then her attention was drawn to Anna's snack and her brow lifted. "What is that? And why are your lips blue?"

Anna looked to her and licked her blue tongue out at her lips. "Uhm, a SweetJuice Cone? Want some?"

"I named it!" Olaf chimed in.

Elsa smiled widely and raised her hands in defense. "It looks…delicious, but no thank you. You enjoy," she replied. Anna shrugged and continued slurping at the treat, while Elsa looked around at her people preparing for the celebration. It brought a warmth to her heart that she never thought she could feel, especially when it was framed by the ice and snow of the winter, two things that had terrified her for so long. Her mood began to thaw. "It's so nice to hear everyone singing and working to make MidWinter happen. So many times I listened to them from the castle, wanting to join them. It feels like a dream come true."

Anna was trying to wipe the blue color from her lips with the now-empty paper cone, but shared in her sister's sentiment. "I know. It'll be so much fun to have the ball in the castle again," she agreed. "Oh! Have you found a mask for the Masquerade yet? I found a matching set for us."

Elsa shook her head with a sad smile. "The Queen does not wear a mask. It's tradition. You'll have to wear one for the both of us," she explained.

"Oh, come on. You're the Queen and everything. Just change the tradition. It'll be fun," Anna suggested.

Elsa frowned slightly, moved by her interaction with the rude captain and echoing some of the recent words of her advisors. "No, we must hold to our traditions. The Queen must be unmasked before her people." Anna frowned as well, wishing that lately she could see more of the carefree Elsa that was not being bound down by the burdens of the monarchy. She also had expectations as a Princess, and she often butted heads with them, but she felt she had no idea of what Elsa went through as she tried to rule Arendelle.

"Hey Elsa! What do you think of my mask?" Olaf asked, breaking the gray mood on the air. When they looked down to him, the snowman had a pale turnip, shriveled by months of winter storage, in place of his carrot. And it was in backwards. The air around them seemed lighter and both young women shared a much-needed laugh.

"So, I haven't seen much of Kristoff these days. Are you guys having another little fight?" Elsa said playfully, embracing the mood.

Anna groaned and dramatically threw her arm against the nearest lantern pole, then buried her head into it. "I don't know what that man is thinking. With MidWinter only days away, he decides to go get a load of ice from the high mountains," she said, then shot Elsa a glance, "And no, that doesn't mean we're having a 'little fight' again."

Elsa smirked. "He went to go get ice. For us. In the middle of winter. Ice."

Anna was not lost on the irony, though she did not want it spelled out to her in that tone. "Yeah, well, maybe he has some super-special ice that not even you can't make. Did you even think of that?" she asked petulantly.

"You're fighting."

"No, we're not. We just happen to not totally agree on a lot of things like _not_ going to get ice in the middle of winter right before the most romantic ball of the year."

"That's called fighting."

"Uhm, no, it's not. Fighting over something about why he hasn't even breathed a word about getting married would be fighting, but since we're obviously _not_ fighting over why he hasn't even breathed a word about getting married, we're _obviously _not fighting," Anna fumed, speaking as if it was Kristoff that she was talking to.

Elsa's feelings on Anna getting married had come a long way from her disastrous incident with Hans. She knew that she truly loved Kristoff, that he loved her just as much and that he was also a very good man, honorable and true-hearted. She also knew that he was prone to social awkwardness and often came off as a goof. That was also a reason she was satisfied with the thought of them being together, even if a part of her was also sad for it. It was a lonely thought. "You can't rush this, Anna. Marriage is not some casual engagement you make on a whim, and you know that more than anyone. Kristoff will come to you in his own time, and at his own pace. You have to be patient," she counseled wisely, as sister and as Queen.

Anna was not known for her patience and folded her arms, thinking hard about her words. "Right. Be patient. Be patient. I'm sure he'll come back just in time for the ball, dashingly entering the ball on his…reindeer, wearing a handsome mask, and propose to me in front of everyone. Yeah! I bet that's his plan."

Elsa stared incredulously. "Kristoff..."

Olaf was equally perturbed. "Is she talking about the same Kristoff I know? Because that guy would soooo not do something like that."

Anna knew the idea was just as unreal, but her heart was searching for something her head already understood, and she had a very stubborn heart. "Well, then maybe I'll be the one who asks him to marry me. That'll work, won't it? Of course it will. I don't have a ring or anything. Or maybe he still gives me a ring. Does that mean he has to wear the dress? No, we'll figure out the details afterwards. Let me think…"

While Anna was busy trying to figure out the details of her grand proposal, Elsa's brow had furrowed as she listened to the idea being laid out before her. "Wait a minute, Anna. Slow down. You can't be the one that proposes," she stated, half-laughing at the absurd idea.

Anna stopped midstride and looked at her in confusion. "What? Why not?"

Elsa winced. "Why not? Because…because that's not how it's supposed to happen. Kristoff needs to propose to you, not the other way around. It's how the tradition goes," she explained, though the expression on her face showed she did not understand the reasons either. It was just one of those strange, unsaid things that everyone held to their hearts, but no one could really explain.

At the moment, Elsa was leaning on the social standard for her argument.

Anna was now feeling a mixture of confusion and anger. The idea was unorthodox, but the bottom line was she loved Kristoff and that he loved her. _Wasn't that enough? _"It's how the tradition goes? Why does that matter? I know Kristoff wants to marry me, and maybe he isn't the type that knows how to ride in a swoop a girl off her feet, but why does that mean I have to sit and wait? Who says a girl can't propose to a man?" she argued.

"I do," Elsa replied in a royal voice, and the mood began to chill. Instead of rational thought, she was using her position to justify her point. "You are a Princess of Arendelle and you're being unreasonable about this. Tradition must be..."

"Do you care about tradition more than me?" Anna snapped, her eyes stinging in the cold air, "I thought you'd support me in this. How can you be so cold?"

"That's enough, Anna," Elsa commanded, aware that their exchange was drawing a crowd. Some of the people around them were drawn in to watch the two royals and it was obviously the festive atmosphere was cracked. "This isn't the place for this."

Anna stared at Elsa painfully. The argument was shallow and should not have caused such a scene, but there were other things churning in the young woman's heart that made her more sensitive, and her heart was shivering. Rational thought did not stand up well against emotional discourse.

With nothing more than a whimper in response, she turned and fled towards the castle, leaving Elsa in a mixture of anger and regret. She never liked fighting with Anna. With all of her heart, she wanted to spend the days carefree and fill the air with laughter, but sometimes the realities of the monarchy outweighed her personal desires. A part of her did not care how they got married, as long as they were happy, but she knew she could never allow such an unorthodox proposal. And, like Anna, she was torn by other forces in her life. The stresses of ruling had been cutting her patience short and bringing out more of her darker impulses, especially when things did not go how she wanted them to. More and more, she was pushing through the world around her, with her magic being the ultimate provision to her will. Even now, the guilt of bullying fate weighed heavily on her heart.

Sometimes, she did not like being Queen.

"Wow. Do you think she'll be okay?" Olaf asked, looking towards the castle with concern.

Elsa shook off both her emotions and the strangely cold wind that was thrashing the torches in the town around her. Regally, she knit her hands in front of her waist and put on a show for the spectators. "She will be fine. She just needs a little time," she said, then headed towards the castle, fully intent on visiting Anna later in a more sisterly capacity.

* * *

In her room, Anna had been crying. She did not know why she was so upset, or why Elsa's actions made her so angry. Deep down, her idea had been little more than a silly musing, but when her sister had reacted so coldly, she could not control how defensive she felt, as if she had been attacking the idea of her marriage to Kristoff. She also suspected that his absence had made her a little more sensitive, but that thought made her wallow deeper in despair.

"Where are you?" she asked breathlessly, fingering a snow globe he had given her months ago. Inside a snowman was surrounded by a flurry of sparkles and white shards, with two small children playing at its base. Each time her finger disturbed the globe, the flurry swirled around and reminded her of hard-to-grasp memories of her childhood. As angry as she was, she still saw herself and Elsa as the two little children in the flurry. Just as much as she wanted to feel the warm touch of her lover, she also wanted to reconcile with her sister and throw away these feelings that made her chest feel tight. This was not how she wanted to spend the days leading up to MidWinter, and she secretly considered seeking out Elsa to apologize.

Against the silence, a creaking floorboard alerted her to the presence of someone else and she straightened slightly, wondering if one of the guards had entered. "What is it?" she asked, keeping her face from the door in an effort to hide her expression.

"Princess Anna, I presume," said a voice, unfamiliar to her and steeped in an accent that she could not place. Her heart skipping, she wiped her cheeks with a clumsy hand before standing to face the speaker.

It was a man, dressed in heavy brown robes and wearing a strange mask on his face. His appearance was almost more animal than man, and his mask in particular sent a shiver of anxiety through her. With MidWinter coming, there had been lots of them around so she did not feel immediately threatened, but something about him made her blood chill. She even had a peculiar thought that her beloved mountain man was back and playing a prank on her, which she embraced out of pure desire for it to be true.

"Is that you, Kristoff?" she asked.

The man said nothing, but reached into his robes and pulled out a long dagger with a black, shiny blade covered in strange red markings that seemed to glow in the dim light of her room. It was like no blade she had ever seen and she was lost in its beauty for a moment, but she soon realized his intentions were not noble and that she was in real danger. He held the knife at her and she gasped, backing into her chair slightly. "I'm guessing you're not here for the ball. Guards? Oh guards..." she said in a frightened voice, her hand grasping the snow globe behind her back.

"You will come with me, Princess. Quietly, I would prefer," he said in a voice both polite and commanding. He approached her swiftly and with intent.

Anna's face was frozen with fear. "Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you!" she cried, swinging the snow globe at him with all of her strength. Much to her surprise, his free hand darted from his robes and caught her at the wrist, swinging it away and making her smash the snow globe down into the desk instead of his head. His skillful movements took her off guard and she tried to struggle against him, hoping the noise would alert the guards, or anyone else.

No one came.

In a flash of sheer terror, she felt a sharp pain pierce her body, as his hand wielding the dagger had thrust into her. The wind was knocked out of her and her mind began to drown in red haze. Countless thoughts and feelings came over her and she looked through the mask to the pair of pale eyes that stared at her, cold and cruel. His eyes frightened her.

Anna collapsed against the man, who caught her with his free hand. The handle of the dagger was still against her stomach and she wilted against him, unconscious as he stabbed the weapon back into his robes. The doll-like princess was then devoured by his robes as the man scooped her up and lingered in her room, looking over the shattered glass and broken trinkets.

A deep sigh rippled through him.

"And it begins."

* * *

Queen Elsa was stalking through the halls, exhausted from her duties and tired of listening to some of her more long-winded advisors. Some of them treated her as if she were still a child, and that infuriated her more than anything. Only moments before, one of their comments had struck her wrong and she froze the man's glass with nothing more than a glance, causing a disturbance in the room. Elsa only partly felt bad about it, and excused herself with a thin apology. Such occurrences had been more common with the young Queen, but not because of any ill will, but simply because her emotions sometimes escaped her. It happened most often when she was stressed, but cooler heads usually prevailed and there had not been any real fallout, but her apologies were getting thinner and fewer, while her indifference grew.

Regent Stenson had followed her out and counseled her, as he always did, but even his words seemed nothing more than a nuisance today. The endless drone of tradition and expectation was drowning against the exhilaration of watching her magic shape the world around her.

Sometimes, she wished to be high atop the mountain again, free from her responsibilities and free to do as she wished.

Sighing, she had been thinking of Anna and was eager to go speak to her. To that end, she was focused on reaching her room without being distracted, and she was happy that she saw no one on the way, not even a guard. The oddity of that eluded her, for she was focused on many other things. There was so much she wanted to do and so much that she could not do. It was frustrating her beyond words.

However, at least she could try and smooth things out with her sister. That was something that required nothing but the will of her heart.

Arriving at Anna's door, she reached up to knock, but hesitated, her knuckles inches from the wood. Immediately, she realized she was not really prepared to talk to Anna. Would she back off her harsh stance and support her sister, knowing it would ultimately lead to her happiness? Or would she continue to uphold tradition and demand that it be Kristoff that proposes? Would she be the responsible Queen, or the compassionate sister? There were so many questions in her head that she nearly let her hand drop to her side, but her resolve found strength and she knocked loudly on the door. Her face was twisted with uncertainty.

"Anna? Can we talk?"

There was silence. It was not the response she was hoping for, and she visited the many days when it was her on the other side of the door, with Anna vainly trying to reach her.

So many sad days.

Intent upon not reliving them, Elsa knocked once more, a bit louder. She leaned in close to the door. "Anna, please open the door. I understand if you're angry, but if we just talk about this, I'm sure we can figure it out. It's not that…I just want you to be happy," she said softly, placing her hand against the hard wood and trying to feel some sort of response. It was difficult to express her uncertain heart through the cold, unfeeling wood, yet she was somehow relieved it was there as she leaned against it, her forehead touching the smooth finish.

"Can I come in?"

Reaching down to the handle, she lingered once more, hoping for some kind of acknowledgment. Anna's refusal to answer once more hinted at her stubbornness and Elsa felt a bit angry at that, but she knew if she let those feelings come back, they would only fight again. To stem her darker feelings, she pulled the handle down, happy it was unlocked, and pushed the door open.

To her surprise, a cold wind met her from the room and she found it empty. The window was open to the dark sky and chilly winter wind, and chairs were turned on their side. "Anna? Anna!" Elsa cried, rushing into the room. There was no sign of her. At once, she thought of calling for the guards but instead moved to the open window, where she found disturbed snow leading down from the roof and towards the harbor, where all torches and lights had been darkened along the way. The room was ice-cold, meaning time had passed since their flight, but something else on the desk caught her attention before she could rush out after them.

A thick scroll of paper was spread out on the desk, held open at its corners by pieces of broken glass and wood. Dark, red words were inscribed ominously and Elsa flew to the desk, brushing aside a shattered snowman from the paper and reading the note with her heart pounding in her chest.

_Snow Queen,_

_I have your sister._

_Come to the Weeping Valley._

_Come alone._

Elsa snatched the paper from the desk, reading it several times, before turning back to the open window with her heart pounding in her ears. The moon was set low across the dark mountains and barely illuminated the dark room, where all of the candles and the fireplace were dark and cold. An equally dark mood settled over the Snow Queen and she held the paper against her chest, unsure what to do and overcome with fear for her sister's safety. Over Arendelle, storm clouds were swirling from nowhere and a light snow began to fall, in spite of the previously mild weather.

Elsa suffered the torrent of emotions within her and she tried to breath. "Anna," she whispered, as the world around her slipped wildly out of her control and into an uncertain future.


	2. Pacing Through the Snow

**II**

Pacing Through the Snow

A gentle rocking and salty air dragged Anna from darkness. She opened her eyes to a room she did not recognize, littered with ropes and barrels and potently musty with the smell of sweat and mead. It was not an environment she was accustomed to. Still groggy, she tried to reach up and soothe the pounding in her head, but found her wrists were bound tightly with rope. It surprised her, but then the memories of the man in her room and the struggle that followed made her gasp, then look around for the assailant. She found him at the other end of the room, sitting cross-legged on a barrel and silent. The strange mask still covered most of his face, so she could not tell if his eyes were open, but judging by his response, she suspected he might be asleep.

Quietly, she wrenched around on the makeshift bed she had been lying on, which was nothing more than stacked boxes and folded canvas. As she stood, the rocking beneath her feet nearly threw her back onto the bed, but she managed to keep her balance.

_This must be a ship._

While she desperately wanted to know what the man sought after, she assumed that kidnapping a princess might be reason enough and that she could be headed for a very bad situation. Not willing to stick around, she decided to sneak away while he slept. Creeping slowly towards the only door in sight, she found it hard to adjust to the movements of the ship. She stumbled into a table and knocked over a bottle, which rolled off the end and nearly crashed to the floor, had she not caught it with nimble fingers. Looking to the man, he was still silent. Keeping the bottle as a club, she continued to creep towards the door, although it was now the creaky floorboards that groaned into the room. Anna grimaced, but the man remained silent.

_I'm glad this guy's a heavy sleeper._

Each of her careful steps made the floorboards squeak, but she moved to the door without his reaction. Just as she reached out to grab the handle, the same accented voice that chilled her in her room broke the silence.

"That would be unwise, Princess."

Anna shrieked in surprise and juggled the bottle a moment, barely grabbing it in a tight hug to keep it from shattering on the ground. Her eyes darted to him, and while he had not moved at all, it was obvious he had been awake the entire time. "Oh, you're awake? I thought I'd just step outside for some fresh air. Kinda stuffy in here, you know," she said, wielding her club clumsily.

"You are helpless, with not a royal guard to be seen. You are on a ship, sailing through frigid waters many fathoms deep, several miles from shore, and crewed by men of questionable character, with only a wooden door between you. I suggest that you stay put," he explained to her casually. Anna heard the movements of others beyond the door. It was loud and brash, and she could tell that she would not be getting such a polite warning from them.

Looking back to him, she took a step away from the door and laughed nervously. "Oh. Well, stuffy isn't so bad, I guess." The man did not reply, and had not moved since she awoke. Having never been kidnapped before, she did not know exactly what to do or how to feel, but the urgency of being taken further away from Arendelle with each passing moment made her step towards him, though the rolling of the ship turned it more into a lurch. "So, is there any chance I can convince you to let me go, Mr. Kidnapper?"

There was no answer.

Anna sighed heavily in frustration. "No? Well, worth a shot." With his robes and mask, he did not even appear human, more like some kind of monster, yet his calm voice and warning led her to believe there was more to him that some insidious plot to kidnap a princess, and so she tried to appeal to his humanity. "Can you at least cut the ropes? Like you said, I'm not going anywhere," she said, holding out her bound wrists.

"No," he replied.

"Oh, come on. It's not like..." she began, but was interrupted when the door behind her was kicked open loudly, making her squeal and turn. In the doorway was the captain from the harbor, minus one boot. He was glaring into the cabin harshly and it made Anna step back, but his arrival did finally make her kidnapper slide down from the barrel and stand tall, facing him.

"What is it, Captain?" the masked man said.

Stepping in, the captain's eyes were locked on Anna and a mischievous smile had returned to his scarred lip. The smile made a shiver run down her spine. "Just checking on my passengers, making sure their every need is fulfilled," he replied. Anna could tell his accent was not the same as her kidnapper's, and his presence was far more chilling. She took another step back.

"We require nothing. How long until landfall?" the kidnapper asked.

"Mere hours away. I admit, it puzzles me why you hired an entire ship, just to transport this young lady such a short distance down the coast. A carriage would have been far cheaper, my friend," he asked, pacing slightly in the cabin.

"That is not your business. You were paid. Leave us until we reach port," he replied, pointedly.

Anna could feel the tension between them, and felt somewhat relieved that her kidnapper was not associated with this man, or the foul air that hung around him. While she thought she should say something to try and defuse the tension, she felt compelled to remain silent.

"I'm afraid I cannot leave just yet, my friend. You see, the amount of money we were paid pales in comparison to what one might get...for the princess of Arendelle," he suggested, moving dreadful eyes to Anna.

The suggestion made her take another step back and begin to object, when the masked man stepped between them, his posture fierce and his hands hidden in his robes. "Who she is is none of your concern," he cautioned.

The captain was intimidated for a moment, but a few creaks of the floorboards behind him bolstered his courage. Twelve men, heavily armed, stood ready for his command outside the cabin. Normally, he would have simply walked in and taken what he wanted, but he also remembered how the masked man freed his ship from the grip of the Snow Queen's magic, and that reason alone made him reluctant to rush in. He smiled at him, but appealed to Anna, "Princess, I do not know by what circumstances you came to be with this man, but I can promise you that if you would come with me, I'll return you to your kingdom, where I will gladly accept a small token of your appreciation. In the form of gold, perhaps?"

Anna's heart leapt a moment, feeling the chance to have her hands unbound and return home. Her kidnapper said nothing, but stayed firmly between them, not once looking back. "You mean it? You'll take me home?" she asked, leaning out from behind him.

The captain smiled. "Of course, Princess. You have my word...as a gentleman," he replied, bowing gracefully with his hat pulled away in hand. His smile never left his face.

Anna looked between them, wondering what to do. Being taken to some unknown place frightened her, as did the masked man, but something in her mind was screaming to not trust the captain. All of her heart told her not to trust him. He reeked of treachery.

"I...think I'll stick with him. Sorry," she said, pointing at the masked man.

The captain scowled and stood straight, replacing his hat. It would have been so much easier had she simply come to him. He muttered to himself how foolish women were.

His posture changed and he was beginning to speak when the masked man swiftly stepped closer to him, something that made the captain flinch. His voice came out from behind the mask, powerful and commanding, "You have your answer. Take your men and go. Sail the ship to port, allow us to depart and you may see this day end with nothing more than a lost boot."

The captain growled, his bare foot twitching, then turned angrily and left the cabin, slamming the door behind him. The masked man's posture relaxed, but he continued to stare at the door until all of the other footsteps went out of earshot.

Anna blew a deep breath of relief out of her lungs. "Wow! That was really tense. I thought I was going to have a heart attack or something. That guy did _not_ seem like the gentleman he was pretending to be and, believe me, I can spot that from a mile..." she exclaimed, reaching up with calm her heart, then realizing her hands were still bound and her situation had not changed. "I'm still being kidnapped, aren't I?"

"You were wise not to go with him. Princesses are quite valuable in the southern seas, and not merely as ransom," he said calmly, turning to her.

"Yeah, I kind of got that from his icky vibe. But, what would you have done if I went with him?" she asked. He stepped past her to return his barrel, though he simply stood there with his hand placed on top, speaking in a quiet voice that she could barely hear.

"Something terrible."

A shiver ran through her. While she could read the captain easily enough, she still had no idea what to think of this man. She could not brush him off as a simple kidnapper, but she could not trust him either. It was a frustrating situation. "Look, if I promise not to run or anything, can you at least cut these ropes?" she asked, holding out her wrists.

The man was quiet a moment and her hopes grew.

"No."

Anna felt the back of her neck flare with heat and she growled at him. "And here I thought you might be a nice person!" Stomping over to the bed, she sat down heavily and turned her back on him, indignantly raising her nose at him. "I guess I was wrong. Not a nice bone in your body."

The man had already climbed back onto the barrel and was motionless once more, as if he had never moved. "Rest, Princess. We make landfall soon."

* * *

Through the dark, snow-covered landscape, a single figure rushed over the snow. A long cowl and cape obscured them and there was barely a footprint left behind. The Queen of Arrendelle slipped out of her own kingdom, past the guards with nothing more than a note to her most trusted advisor, Regent Stenson.

_Anna was taken. I'm going to bring her back. Take care of things._

Elsa knew that telling anyone about Anna would be a mistake, and that the entire kingdom would volunteer to go find her. So beloved was the princess of Arendelle. She also knew that with the kidnapper asking her to come alone, this was probably more about her than Anna, as her powers stirred up fear in others, just as it did within her.

Though a part of her also reveled in the chance to get away from the castle, with no one to follow her through the snow.

Traveling in an unsure direction, with only an ancient map to guide her, she pulled her cowl tightly across her face and pressed on. The cowl was not to protect her from the elements, but to protect her from being recognized by travelers. In the endless fields of snow and ice of the kingdom, she was in her element, and there was something refreshing about it.

Stopping in a small clearing, a bit away from the main road, Elsa pulled her lantern close to look over her map, which was faded and torn. Arendelle stood as a large landmark in the middle of the map, with the royal seal stamped next to the cartographer's name. There were dozens of lakes and rivers named, along with other significant features. Near the right edge of the map, written in a small lettering, was a strangely shaped depression in the landscape with a name barely legible next to it.

_Weeping Valley._

The name made her shiver and she tried to get her bearings. Following a map through unknown terrain was not a standard skill for a queen, but she was confident she was going the right way. Her apprehension was not making it easy. For someone to sneak into Arendelle, subdue several guards and sneak out with a member of the royal family meant she was dealing with someone with significant skill, though that was not the most disturbing element of the crime. What truly worried her was that when she followed the tracks to the harbor, she found they took Anna on the same ship she had frozen into the harbor, and that the ice that she had created had not been broken as expected, but had been melted.

She had not seen anything that could melt her ice in such a way.

"Anna, be safe," she said to herself, tucking the map back into her cape and continuing on, adjacent to the main road.

Judging as best as she could from the map and the landmarks, Elsa found herself walking through the high mountains in the general direction of the the marker on the map. It was frustrating to move so slowly, but she could not afford to use a sled and risk being seen, not to mention that her powers allowed her to move through the snowy landscape much faster than any normal person.

It was in a high-mountain valley that she came across a distant mumbling sound, carried through the dark sky by the crisp, cold air. While she could not afford to waste any time, she had been planning on crossing the clearing, but found someone else there instead.

It was a man, walking back and forth through a long trench in the snow. There were supplies scattered around and a sled parked not far away. The man paced back and forth, talking as if there were an audience all around, though he was oblivious to her presence.

"Kristoff?" she asked quietly, hiding behind a tree as she slipped her cowl back.

It was the last person she wanted to see, yet she somehow felt like fate had brought her to him. Anna's plight would certainly hit him hard, and she knew he deserved to go after her, something deep inside kept her behind the tree and reading the words from the note.

_Come alone. Come alone._

It may have been selfishness that made her feel this way, for she wanted to be the one to rescue Anna and somehow repay her for all she had done, but the Queen made the choice to leave her beloved out of the situation, and proceed on alone.

That was before she turned to leave and found a reindeer in her face, bellowing happily at the sight of her. She jumped back. "Sven!" The animal bounced about excitedly and she tried to hush him, "Shhhh, shhhh. Please be quiet."

"Queen Elsa?" said a voice behind her, and she froze instantly. Kristoff had come over from his trench and was surprised to see her. "What are you doing all the way up here?"

Elsa turned around with a guilty look on her face. "Kristoff. Fancy meeting you here. I was just...on a walk. Yes, that's it. A walk," she replied, knitting her hands in front of her with a nervous laugh.

Kristoff scratched his head and looked past her shoulder, where he knew Arendelle lay far beyond. "That's some walk. Where's your escort? Your guards?" he asked.

"Oh, well, you know. Can't the Queen go for a walk alone sometimes? I mean, I don't need guards _everywhere_ I go, do I?" she said, trying to brush him off. It was true that tradition demanded the Queen be escorted when she left the castle grounds, but she was hoping to get around that detail by simply laughing it off. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking beyond him to his trench.

Now it was his turn to become evasive. "Me? Oh, nothing. I mean, just looking for ice and all. I am your official Ice Master, after all. Yep, lots of grade-A ice around here," he said, laughing nervously.

She quirked her brow at him.

"Okay, I wasn't looking for ice. I was just...thinking, that's all."

"Thinking," she repeated, noticing how deep and well-dug the trench was. She imagined he had been up here for days. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Yes. I mean, I don't know," he sighed, taking his hat off and pacing once more, right in front of her. "I have this problem, see. It's about Anna. She wants to get married and all, but..."

"But?" Elsa repeated him again, this time with a stern look on her face.

Kristoff instantly picked up on that and panicked. "No no, I mean, I want to get married too, but..." he said, trying not to suffer the wrath of Anna's sister, who happened to be the Queen and gifted in powerful magic. In the end, he sighed and wilted. "It's just, I don't even know what I'm doing. I've spent days up here trying figure how to propose, _if _I should propose and how I'd even make it work. I even went and got a ring, but..." he said, pulled out a simple wooden box with a grand treasure inside, though his eyes fell when he looked at it and he sighed.

"She's a princess and I'm just some guy who drags ice for a living."

It was that honesty that made her wish them nothing but happy days, and she sympathized at his feelings of inadequacy. She was once again reminded how much she liked him. Stepping forward, she placed her hand on his arm and smile warmly. "Kristoff, that doesn't matter to Anna. She loves you for who you are. It doesn't matter if you're an Ice Master or a King. It's enough that you love each other."

"You really think so?" he asked.

"I do. And besides, I've a feeling that the Queen approves of your marriage to her sister, so try not worry so much," she assured him, smiling warmly.

Kristoff returned her smile. "Thank you, your Majesty. That means a lot to me," he admitted and pushed the box back into his satchel. "So, with MidWinter coming up and all, is Anna mad at me for being gone?" he asked, wincing.

Elsa was brought back to reality and her smile faded. "Oh, Anna is..." she began, then looked at the expectant look on his face. "To be honest, she hasn't said much about it."

"Really?" he said, looking surprised, "Because I expected her to be fuming-mad about it. She really didn't say anything about it?"

Now he seemed more disappointed than anything and Elsa felt overwhelming guilt at lying to him. "Not a thing," she said.

"Oh," he said sadly, putting his cap back on his head. "Well, then I'd better get back before she does get mad. Can I give you a ride back, your Majesty?"

As he began to turn back to his sled, Elsa's guilt flooded over her resolve and she called after him, "Wait." He paused, looking to her. "There's something I need to tell you about Anna," she continued, pulling out the rolled note and holding it out to him.

Kristoff turned back and took the note, unrolling it and reading quickly. His eyes then ignited and he looked up at her. "What does this mean? Someone took Anna? Who?" he demanded.

She shrugged. "I don't know. But I will bring her back, Kristoff. You have my word."

"You mean we'll bring her back," he said as he stabbed the note back into her hands, then hurried over to his sled to get it ready.

"What? No! You've read the note. They want me to come alone," she said.

He shook his head, continuing. "I'm not going to sit around while you go alone. When it comes to Anna, I don't listen to what _they_ want," he said strongly, calling Sven over to get into the harness.

"But..." she tried once more, though she found her own heart happy that he was forcing the issue. As prepared as she had been to face this alone, she found that his insistence calmed her.

"Besides, you're already bringing Olaf," he noted.

"I am?" she asked in surprise.

"This is terrible! They've taken Anna to the Weeping Valley! This is horrible! Anything but the Weeping Valley!" cried the snowman, who was sitting behind Elsa with the note in his twigs.

"Olaf! When did...did you follow me?" she demanded.

"I couldn't let you go alone, Elsa," he replied.

As angry as she tried to appear, she could not fight the relief that swept over her and she glanced over to Kristoff, who was moving with purpose and focus. She could see the devotion in him and remembered that she was not the only one that loved Anna. She sighed and looked back to the smiling snowman, her own smile breaking her worried expression. "I guess there's no use in arguing about it," she said, turning back to Kristoff, who gave her a confident nod.

"So, where is this Weeping Valley?" Olaf asked.

Elsa pulled out her old map, "I have a map, but I don't know if I'm reading it right. I think it's that way?"

"It's fine. I know where it is," Kristoff said, jumping up into the sled and leaving enough room for Elsa. "If we hurry, we'll be there in no time." Elsa nodded, more confident than ever, and slipped up into the sled, leaving her cowl down now to show her determined face.

"Oh yes, the Weeping Valley. I bet it's a wonderful place," Olaf remarked as Kristoff urged Sven forward


	3. Into the Weeping Valley

**III**

Into the Weeping Valley

Anna trudged along behind her kidnapper, stumbling over the rough terrain of loose shale and jagged boulders. The landscape had changed dramatically. Instead of mountainous terrain with endless snow and ice, the area had become dull and hot, a strange contrast to the cold of winter around them. The Weeping Valley was deep within an area that was geologically active, with hot pots and boiling ponds all around. The air was foul with the earth belching around them. There was not a sign of snow to be seen, and the air itself seemed to sweat. With the higher temperatures, Anna was happier in her room-wear, which had been ill-suited to her trek through the snow, but at least afforded her some relief in the hotter air.

It was strange to feel such heat in the middle of winter.

While her wrists were bound, her legs were free and her eyes scanned for a way to escape, yet she could not escape the curiosity of her captor's manner and his voice, and what could be behind his actions. She was bound more by her interest in him than by the ropes. "Can you at least tell me where we're going? I think I'm pretty accommodating for a hostage, you know? What with the not-running-away and all," she groaned, annoyed at his quick pace and silence.

"Not far now," he replied.

"You really know how to make a conversation lively," she moaned, tripping slightly and barely catching her balance. "It would be so much easier if my hands weren't tied!"

He slowed a moment, turning back to her. "For you, perhaps," he said, a distinct, cynical tone seeping through his mask.

The tone made her scowl. "After all this, you think I'd run? I hope you cook like a turkey in that get up," she sneered. He had never shed his heavy robes or mask, which made her believe he was far more uncomfortable than she was.

She felt satisfaction in that.

They continued on, with the rocky trail smoothing out and taking them into a series of caves, where the sky was hidden from them but the heat remained. The caves, like the valley, were stained yellow and black, smelling of foul sulfur and boiling with some unknown heat. It was the wind that gave it the name 'Weeping Valley,' for it came hot through the many distant columns of built-up ash, howling and wailing, as if a thousand lost souls cried out to anyone who ventured this deep within. Anna would have been fascinated by it, if not for the acrid air that stung her nose and the sweat beading from her face.

At some point, he lit a torch and carried it to fill the dark caves around them with light.

As she followed, tethered by her curiosity, she caught rare glimpses of the hilt of the black dagger he had drawn on her. He was obviously bothered by the heat, for he grunted and moved unnaturally in his robes, and the odd shifting is what caused her to see his weapon, taunting her with a chance to alter the nature of their journey.

She was not satisfied with sitting still and being a damsel-in-distress.

When the chance presented itself, she lunged forward and grasped the hilt, wrenching back until she now had the weapon in hand. It was almost as surprising to her as it was for him, for when he spun around to face her, she yelped and nearly dropped it. "Whoa! Ah hah! Hah hah!" she cried, pointing the exotic blade at him and swishing around a few times for effect, "Now then, it looks like the shoe is on the other foot! How about that?"

The man was still and his grip tightened around the torch. He slowly raised his free hand out to her. "Give me the dagger," he commanded, soft but strong.

"Oh! I mean, I don't think so. I think it's time to change our little arrangement," she said in a frightened voice, keeping the blade pointed at him. "Now, you will take me back to Arendelle. Immediately." She was trying to muster up an equally commanding tone.

The man sighed behind the mask, and his hand lowered into his robes. "If I refuse?" he asked.

She had not expected that response. "What? I mean, I think it's pretty obvious, right? I'll, you know, use this," she said, wagging the tip of the blade at him.

"You lack conviction," he said sternly.

That irked her. "Don't think you know me. This isn't the first time I've used one of these, I'll have you know," she said.

He was not impressed. "I don't want to hurt you, Princess, but I will if necessary," he said, this time raising his hand and stepping towards her.

She stepped back, standing on her toes to try and appear more intimidating. "Don't...come any closer! I'm warning you!" He offered no response, but continued to approach her with an expectant hand. "You really have no idea how bad this is going to be. I'll run you through, or something," she panted, her fear bleeding through her voice.

His continuing approach caused her to panic, press her eyes closed and squeal as she stabbed the dagger forward, hoping for the best. It was not natural for her and she was awkward in her lunge, but she hoped everything would turn out well.

Somehow.

The dagger stopped. When she opened her eyes, she found he had caught her hands as the dagger hovered mere inches from him. Her attack had failed miserably. Before she could move further, he pinched down on her and made a sharp pain shoot through her arm. "Ow!" she cried as she lost the dagger and tucked her arms to her body tightly, scowling at him.

With the dagger in hand, he deftly spun it around, his posture intimidating. "Please do not do that again," he snarled. The tip of the dagger was pointed at her chest and she sucked in a breath of air. When the blade shimmered with movement, she grimaced for the worst, but found he simply cut down through the ropes on her hands, freeing them.

It came as quite the surprise and she stared at him for several moments. Once again she could not understand him at all. "Why free me now?" she asked, rubbing her sore wrists.

His stance was uncertain. "The caves ahead are dangerous. Your becoming injured does not serve my purpose. But do not press my patience further, Princess. If you do as I say, I will let you go, and you may return to your home. Do you understand?" he said.

While she had trouble believing anything he said, she found that his voice was sincere and that she wanted to trust him, as bizarre as it seemed. "What _do_ you want? Who are you?" she asked brazenly.

The man hesitated, then slowly reached up and unfastened his robes at his neck. The thick covering fell to his feet and revealed surprisingly fine clothing, dyed red and black in the darkest hue. His arms were almost bare, save for the thick leather sleeves tied over them, and his boots were low, which told her he was not accustomed to the snow of Arendelle's winter. As she stared, he reached up and hooked his thumb beneath his mask, slowly lifting it from his face. He was young, but older than her and probably Elsa as well. His skin was marked by sweat and his hair was messy and dark. He opened his pale gray eyes to her, showing a determination and ferocity that she had not seen in many men, and they captured her for a moment.

It was a strange thing, to be captured in such a way by one's kidnapper.

"My name is Yasha, of the kingdom of Fria. And I wish it that you come with me, in spite of your will or desire."

Anna stared at him, not sure how she should respond to him. He was kind, but cruel. He was polite, but demanding. A simple glance beckoned her to obey, but she wished to defy him with every breath. It was not a black dagger, or the sharpness in his voice that made her heart race, but only one simple thing that made her breath quiver through her chest.

It was his commanding presence that was his most dangerous weapon.

"Princess..." he repeated, which broke her from her stare.

"What? I mean, okay. I mean, what?" she stuttered. Shaking off her daze, she tried to focus on the facts at hand. As bizarre as their introduction was, her natural character pierced the mood and she smiled awkwardly at him. "Nice to meet you?"

His eyes moved ahead of them, and they seemed sad to her, but he quickly spun the dagger around and stabbed into its sheath. "A pleasure," he replied awkwardly, then turned from her, scooping up his robes and mask, and continued on. It was apparent that he expected her to follow, even after freeing her.

And she did.

"Hey, wait!" she cried, skirting after him with a daze still in her eyes. She followed with no solid reason in her mind, but with only Kristoff's bit of advice floating around in her head.

_Sometimes you have to roll with it._

"Hellooooo?" she called after him after a while, though he seemed to ignore her. Only after a few times of calling did he turn slightly and look at her as they walked. "Uhm, hi. So since we're all buddy-buddy now, can we talk?" she asked.

He sighed, and did not respond.

"Right, so...I guess the obvious question is, why kidnap little old me? I mean, I'm sure there are lots of other princesses that you could take for whatever nefarious purposes you have in mind. You don't have any nefarious purposes in mind, do you?" she said as she eyed him nervously.

Yasha glanced back, but showed no sign of stopping. "I will keep my word. When I have what I want, I will let you go. Unharmed," he assured her.

"Ooookay. So then, what do you want? You know, if you don't mind me asking," she said.

"You are rather polite towards someone who took from your castle at knifepoint. Are you always this forthcoming towards men with bad intentions?" he replied with a slight smirk.

Anna's lips burst with a sigh and she rolled her head heavily across her neck. "Ugh, you have no idea," she said, remembering back to previous experiences. "Anyway, I don't know why you're all glum and moody, but you don't seem like such a bad guy. You're actually kind of nice?"

"Am I?" he asked and stopped a moment, looking surprised. She only smiled and nodded, which appeared to make him uncomfortable. "You have a strange understanding of what it means to be kidnapped, Princess." He continued walking.

She laughed as if he had been flattering her. "Please, you can just call me Anna. But it's not like I've ever been kidnapped before, so I don't exactly know what to expect. And, you know, I'd still like to know why."

Yasha was quiet for a moment, and it struck her as odd. When he did answer, it came in a guilty voice, yet frighteningly candid. "I intend to kill your sister, Anna."

She instantly stopped, her face twisted. It took her a moment to even comprehend it. "Whoa whoa, mister, that's _Princess_ to you. And what do you mean you intend to kill my sister?!" The idea destroyed any rapport they might have been building. The reality of the situation slapped her in the face, as this was no longer a playfully strange exchange from an oddly alluring stranger.

This suddenly became terrifying.

Yasha stopped as well, and seeing her reaction, his face darkened. "It is a complex story, and you need not sympathize with my reasons," he stated.

Anna scoffed. "Like I'm going to be okay with you wanting to kill Elsa! Did you think I'd just be okay with that?" she yelled, fighting the panic in her chest. The extraordinary nature of her sister brought extraordinary drama to their world, and she desperately wanted to be Elsa's vanguard against anything that would threaten her. She knew this man was dangerous, and his resolve proved he would not be easily discouraged from his task. Still, she felt there was far more behind his actions than some simple scheme. She strangely wanted to believe there was more to him.

Seeing that determination still in his eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked, suddenly trying to intimidate him. "And besides, that's easier said than done, buddy. I mean, yeah, you were able to sneak into Arendelle, kidnap a princess and escape on a ship that was frozen into the fjord. But regardless of all that, Elsa's pretty powerful, you know. She could turn you into a popsicle." She threw a threatening finger at him to emphasize her last point.

Yasha considered that for a moment. "I will manage," he replied and tried to continue.

"_I will manage,_" Anna repeated in a mocking tone, even trying to copy his face, "Others have tried and Elsa's still here, so don't be so sure of yourself."

Yasha sighed and stopped once more, when suddenly his posture became tense and his attention wandered from her. Anna noticed this and felt like she might have dissuaded him from his task. "Ah hah! Not so sure of yourself now, eh? I don't blame you. Elsa turns guys like you into frosty statues for her garden, just by flicking her wrist," she cooed with a smug tone.

"Be quiet for a moment. There is something else here," he said, cutting away her tone with his voice.

At first, she did not believe him, but as he scanned the darkness of the caves with the torch, she felt this was no ploy and she followed his lead. "Some thing? It's not wolves, is it?" she asked, strangely stepping closer to him as her eyes scanned the dark recesses of the caves around them.

Yasha scowled. "Something far worse. A Xenolith," he replied. Taking a few steps from her, he continued to look around with the torch but could not find the creature. It was the last thing he wanted to find as they moved through the caves, and the reason he had freed her from her bindings. It was simple enough to avoid them when he was alone, but looking after her at the same time would complicate matters.

It was only until he turned back to Anna did he find the beast, moving silently behind her, ready to strike. "Anna!" he yelled, lunging forward to her surprise. The two of them rolled to the side just as a huge, black claw crushed the ground where she had been standing. It took a moment for her to regain her senses, but when she did she found a looming monster, black as the darkness and glowing with the same type of red markings as Yasha's exotic dagger. It was a golem, made of shiny volcanic rock. It was jagged and tall, and two yellow eyes pierced the darkness towards them. The sound it made was like the resonance of a crystal goblet and it shrieked through the air, making her wince but not take her eyes from it.

"What is that?!" she cried, just as he was helping her to her feet.

"I thought that would be apparent! That is a Xenolith," he replied, shoving the torch into her hands.

She fumbled the torch and waved it in his face. "What's this for!?" she cried again.

Grabbing her hand as it held the torch, he forced her to wave it at the creature. "You are an incessant deluge of questions, Princess! It is for the Xenolith! They fear the flame," he yelled.

"Like I'm supposed to know that!" she yelled back, lowering the torch as she did.

Yasha wrenched the torch back towards the creature. "Torch! That way!"

Anna growled at him loudly and started to flail the torch towards the massive golem, which had been stumbling back and forth against the movement of the flames. She was amazed at how fearful the monstrous beast was of a simple torch. "Fine then! Take this!" she yelled, hurling the torch towards the creature, where it landed in a small puddle of water on the cave floor and went out, leaving them only a dim light.

"Oops."

The piercing shriek of the Xenolith made her grimace as it set upon them, now unfazed by their light. She did not know what was more terrifying, the fact that she could barely see the ominous red glow of the monster as it crashed towards them, or the fact that she would meet her end with some ominous stranger. In her heart, she wanted Elsa to arrive and save her with her magic, or for Kristoff to ride in on Sven and pull her away at the last second.

In the dark and frightened, she clawed her hands out for some kind of support, but did not even find the touch of her mysterious kidnapper.

A bright light suddenly stung her eyes and frightening heat seared her skin, making her wince and cover her face with her arm. The shrieking of the Xenolith made her brave the piercing light and what she found took her breath away. Yasha stood, his hands outstretched, and a wave of beautiful flame fanning out towards the monster. It took a moment to realize, but she found that he was not waving a new torch or using some other kind of tool – he was creating the fire from his hands, and it followed his gestures in elegant pulses. She had been accustomed to seeing Elsa use her magic, but this was something different, something more primal. It did not sparkle like her ice, but roared out from his hands like the breath of a dragon, and it struck fear into her.

This man from the Kingdom of Fria wielded fire as Elsa wielded ice, and Anna no longer felt the overwhelming confidence in Elsa's one-sided victory against him.

The massive creature stumbled wildly and fled from them, terrified of the flame, until nothing could be heard of it. Yasha's flames slowly died down until the cave was once more dim, aside from a few errant pyres that survived on the ground around them. With the flame gone, Yasha suddenly lurched forward and clutched his chest, groaning in pain. It took Anna by surprise.

"It is getting worse," he whispered, though not to her. He was doing his best to face away from her and his body shuddered with labored breathing.

She jumped to his side, dismissing her fears and questions. Her eyes were wide with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.

From underneath his shirt, she could see a pale, red glow that churned like the flames, and she thought that he had set his clothes on fire, but the way he clawed his hands over them meant it was something deeper than burning cloth, and she struggled to try and help him.

After a few moments, the glow faded away and his pain subsided. He then tore his shoulder away from her. "I am fine," he said in a warning tone.

She could tell he was not, but something at her feet caught her attention. It was another torch sticking out of his dropped robes, and it was dry. Grabbing it, she stabbed it into one of the dying pyres and filled the area with light once more, something he did not seem to appreciate, but she moved towards him anyway. "You don't look fine," she said.

"You need not concern yourself," he gasped, holding a hand out to stop her. She thought that maybe she would be next target for his flames, but when he simply used the chance to catch his breath, she felt a sigh of relief escape her lips. "It will pass," he said, standing straight, but still in pain.

Anna was watching him tensely. The revelation of his ability shed a whole new light on their situation and she no longer felt this could be resolved with some simple conversation once Elsa came. But her fascination with him continued, and she became bolder in light of his weakened state. "Who are you?" she repeated, now more gravely.

Yasha shuddered a bit, though she could not tell if it was from the pain or her question. He would not look at her for a moment, but then turned and took the torch from her harshly, making her yelp in surprise. His eyes were once more cold. "A cursed man with a cursed task. Let that be the end of it," he snarled and tried to continue on.

"No way. I'm not going anywhere as long as you want to hurt Elsa. You can do to me what you will," she said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

Yasha whirled and lurched at her, coming inches from her face. "Do not force me to harm you, Princess! You must return to your kingdom uninjured," he repeated, which she found strange. There was a terrible look on his face and she could see the strangest ring of orange in his eyes, something that should have frightened her, but she stared back at him fearlessly, showing that she would not be intimidated anymore. If she was to be at his mercy, she would do it on her own terms.

At once, she realized something that gave her a great advantage. For some reason, he was doing all he could to keep her safe from the dangers around her, and that included himself. He had the motivation and ability to force her to obey, but he had not once tried to hurt her. It emboldened her. "No. You're just going to have to harm me," she exclaimed, although her voice was a little shaky.

"No!" he yelled and she flinched. At first, she thought she might have pushed him too far, but he simply turned from her in frustration. "I will not sacrifice one kingdom to save another." Once more his comments did not seem directed at her.

Anna's intrigue in the man continued to grow. Nothing he said made sense to her, but she could see the turmoil in him. And the nobility. "What does that mean, Yasha?" she asked, using his name for the first time in an effort to reach him. He did not answer, but just stared into the darkness. It took her a few moments of thinking, but she began to unravel the motives behind his actions. "If you just wanted Elsa, you could have burned the castle to the ground with your magic. But you didn't. That's why you're bringing me here? To lure Elsa away, where no one else can get hurt? That's why you want me to return unharmed, so Arendelle still has an heir," she said, trying to bait him into opening up to her. He was silent. Her eyes were moving around as she tore the mystery from him, finding his silence compelling. "I don't think you're a bad person, Yasha. So why are you doing this? Why Elsa?"

"It is my task," he replied after a painful silence.

"That's not good enough for me. And I don't think that's good enough for you, either. So what's the real reason? Who's given you this task?" she pressed, stepping towards him.

Yasha was glaring into the darkness ahead, his shame and remorse hidden from her. He regretted becoming so friendly with her, though sheer loneliness had overwhelmed him. He could not remember the last time he had spoken so intimately with anyone, but this only made his self-loathing grow. Strangely, he feared how powerful Anna was at connecting with others, and how she had cut into him so quickly.

In some ways, he found her more dangerous than the Snow Queen and her magic.

A distant wail in the caves grabbed their attention and Yasha broke from his trance. Anna was not sure what the sound was, but he knew instantly. "This place is not safe. The Xenolith will return. Only my grotto will afford us the time to answer your questions. I will tell you what you wish to know, knowing it will not change our fate," he explained, turning back to her with the same resolute eyes that she had come to fear. "This path will lead to fire and ice, and the unrequited hatred you will bear for me. Is your heart prepared, Princess?"

She stared into his cold eyes. It was chilling how beautifully he could speak while looking so cruel. At once, she knew how she could help Elsa with no one getting hurt. She would steer him from this dark path he saw, not by magic or weapons, but by the simple act of digging through the despair that she saw in his eyes, no matter how deeply he buried himself in it. She would deny him the benefit of her hatred. He did not deserve it.

Gathering her courage, she took the resolve he showed in seeking Elsa's death, and reflected it back on him to preserve her life. In the end, she would show him that her will was as strong as his, and that not even his powerful magic would eclipse how powerful her love was for her sister.

They were on a completely different scale.

"Lead on."


	4. Shadows and Doubts

**IV**

Shadows And Doubts

"You see, Elsa, I can't marry your sister. I can't be the Arendelle Ice Master anymore," Kristoff said, pacing back in forth in front of his halted sled. His hat was wrung between his hands and he was sweating heavily, and not just from the warmer air of the Weeping Valley. His face was twisted and his eyes darted up from his feet and back, afraid to linger anywhere too long. "But it's not you. It's me, really. I mean, who needs a guy to fetch ice from the high mountains when the Queen can make it magically appear with a flick of her hand? I've spent my life wading through snowdrifts and sleeping in snow caves, all to learn how to do a single thing. Then…wham!" A heavy sigh escaped his lips and he wilted forward.

"Your best suddenly doesn't matter."

Kristoff listened to the silence for a moment, waiting for a response. The lack of response made him look over to Olaf, smirking. "That bad, huh?"

"It wasn't not really good?" Olaf suggested, laughing nervously.

Kristoff groaned and continued wringing his hat. "Ugh, how would you explain to the Queen that you're basically useless because of her magic?" he sighed. Olaf found the question odd, as he only existed because of her magic.

Just as he was lamenting that, Elsa approached them from the rocky terrain ahead, an air of cold surrounding her. "I think I've found the path," she said, something in her hands.

Kristoff instantly straightened and his ears burned. Olaf was oblivious to it. "Oh hey, Elsa. Kristoff was just talking about how useless…" Olaf began when Kristoff slapped a massive, gloved hand across his face, cutting him off. He smiled sheepishly at Elsa.

Elsa's brow twisted and she looked at them. "How useless…?"

"How useless…er, the sled is now that the snow ends. Yep! Going to have to go on foot from here," Kristoff replied quickly, looking at the slushy snow as it faded away completely in the depths of the valley. Elsa followed his eyes into the foul colors of the valley and narrowed her eyes. The lack of snow and ice disturbed her, for the clean sheets of unending snow around Arendelle always brought her comfort. The place was foreign and frightful to her.

"What a terrible place," she commented.

"Is that…?" Kristoff said, looking to the strip of cloth in her hands. He took a cautious step forward.

Elsa was brought back and looked to her hands, where she had been squeezing the piece of Anna's dress tightly. Her eyes darkened. "It's Anna's. It was tied to a tree next to a path that leads into the valley. They're showing us the way," she guessed. Even the warmer temperatures of the valley failed against the wrath of the Snow Queen and the snow began to encroach further into the rocks. Just thinking about somebody holding Anna hostage made her blood hot and her powers flared as a reaction. It was difficult keeping calm.

Although Kristoff would have been the first to try and stave off her mood and the ruthless cold that came with it, he was also suffering the will of his emotions and stared at the strip of cloth. Then, he was quickly unfastening Sven's harness. "Let's go then," he said.

As they descended into the valley, Kristoff walked ahead with his keen eyes on the area around them. He had only skirted the edge of the valley through his years of living in the mountains, and now he was glad he had at least some knowledge of the area. There were signs of danger all around. His instincts allowed them to avoid the danger, and a part of him was glad to be useful to the Queen. Her bad mood created an air of silence around them, which made him even more focused on impressing her

Approaching a chasm, he waved everyone to stop and looked across the gap. He wondered if they had lost the path, but looking out to the other side, he saw a naturally-treaded run heading farther into the valley. "Hang on. It'll take a minute to make an over-under. Then we can cross," he said, rummaging through his satchel for some rope. He was eager to demonstrate his knowledge and skill, but Elsa candidly walked past him and thrust her hand out at the chasm, making a perfectly frozen bridge arch over the gap to the other side.

She said nothing as she continued on.

Kristoff sighed heavily as Olaf and Sven followed her. His head drooped. "Oh, right."

The four of them continued on, awed by the colors, sounds and heat of the place. Both Elsa and Kristoff moved with focused expressions, neither of them speaking much, even as Olaf provided unending commentary about the howling wind and stained rocks. Oddly, the valley became more and more distorted to the snowman as he followed and he was beginning to wonder why. "Hey guys? Is it just me or is this place getting kind of soggy and…wobbly?" he asked.

Kristoff turned to find him nearly sunk into a puddle around him. "Elsa! Olaf's melting!" he yelled.

Elsa had been preoccupied, but his alarm made her turn and see the dire situation her friend was in. Quickly flicking her hand out, her magic swirled around the snowman and turned him back to normal, with his usual flurry popping up overhead. A sigh of relief settled over them, but soon the heat of the valley overcame the flurry and Olaf began to melt again, much to his despair.

"Uhm, maybe a little more flurry?" he suggested.

Elsa appeared annoyed and flashed both hands at him, returning him back to normal again and this time supported by a much bigger, much darker flurry. It blew freezing air over him and he retained his shape. Kristoff noticed how much colder the air was, but Olaf was overjoyed. "My flurry's become a tempest! I love it," he cheered. Elsa did not seem her usual self and glared down at her hands, wondering how her flurry would protect him on the hottest summer day, yet did nothing against the unnatural heat of this place. The mystery only irritated her more and she turned to continue, scowling to herself.

Kristoff looked concerned. "Queen Elsa?" he said, following her. She did not answer and barely looked back to him. He glanced at the trail of frozen ground that followed behind them. "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right. Anna's being dragged around this awful place by some person who's slowly tearing the clothes off of her. Why would I be all right?" she growled, her eyes looking around for another sign of them.

Kristoff understood that and winced, but he was getting more concerned at the blunt usage of her magic and could not help but glance at Olaf's new tempest. He did not know why, but it worried him. "Look, I'm worried too, but getting angry won't bring her back any faster. You have to calm down," he said.

"I am calm!" she yelled as she clenched her fists and a flash of her magic sent a frozen wind through the wiry trees around them, freezing them into fearsome creatures with frozen spines and spindly claws. Kristoff jumped at her fit and glanced around. Elsa was obviously not as calm as she claimed to be as she turned on him, her eyes on fire. "Why are you so calm? Why aren't you angry? Don't you care what happens to Anna?" she cried.

Kristoff winced. Having his feelings questioned hit him and he looked down from her, not because he questioned them as well, but because her lack of faith in him only furthered his own self-doubt. However, as much as he had been struggling with his own identity lately, there was definitely one thing he did not doubt.

He did not doubt his love for Anna. Not even for a moment.

His eyes rose to her. "More than anything," he replied, and his eyes were strong against her accusations.

His expression struck Elsa, and she realized how cruel she had been. She stepped back, rubbing her hands together and taking a few shaky breaths. "I'm sorry, Kristoff. I didn't mean…" she began, but could not even finish her apology. There was too much anger building up in her, and seeing something of Anna tied so carelessly around the tree had churned something dark inside of her. All she could think about was using her powers to make the kidnappers suffer.

It felt like only the anger mattered now, and that frightened her.

Seeing her distress, Kristoff stepped forward and put his strong hands across her slumping shoulders. "I'm angry. I'm scared. I'm fighting the urge to run forward with everything I have. But none of that helps if I can't find the path that leads me to her," he said.

Elsa looked up to him, full of uncertainty. "I'm scared," she admitted, searching him for more answers. "If I were to lose her, I…"

"That won't happen," he said quickly.

"How do you know?" she asked.

Kristoff pursed his lips slightly. "I just know. I won't let anything happen to Anna. I promise," he replied.

Elsa glimpsed the relief she felt when they joined her, and hope managed to chip away at the anger. She still felt the fury boiling deep inside, but she would borrow his strength and focus of the path. She did not know what she would do when she finally confronted those that took Anna, but that was a bridge she would cross later, and she was not sure any amount of comforting words would calm her rage then.

"Thank you," she said to him, placing her hand across his.

Kristoff was glad he was able to calm her down, but soon realized he was touching the Queen somewhat intimately. He jumped back and held his hands out between them, as if to defend himself. "Thank you. I mean, you're welcome. I mean, you're the Queen and everything, so of course I'd do whatever you asked of me, but that's not why I'm going to protect Anna or anything. I'd do that, you know, because of that other thing. Me and her…that whole thing."

Elsa kept looking at him, still vulnerable and unsure. She was glad he was trying to console her, but she could not stop struggling with her emotions. She wished that she shared his confidence.

"Hey Elsa, Kristoff. Up ahead there's this big hole in the ground. You know, like a big, gaping hole in the side of the rocks that leads inside. One of those things," Olaf suddenly said, coming into sight on Sven's back.

"A cave?" Kristoff asked, glad to break from his awkward exchange with Elsa.

"Oh, yeah! One of those," Olaf replied.

They came into sight of the large hole Olaf noted and lingered a moment. A hot wind blew out from the bowels of the earth and it was foul with sulfur. Kristoff grimaced. He did not like caves. "Great. Just great," he groaned.

Elsa had moved to the side and found yet another strip of Anna's dress, a frown across her face. "It leads inside," she said, looking the dark depths. In the deep distance, she thought she saw torches burning.

"Of course it would. Down into the dark. Rocks everywhere. Limited air to breath," he said and rubbed his forehead harshly. Elsa noticed his anxiety, but said nothing.

With no other options, they entered the caves and followed the markers. Each sign of Anna's clothing brought a darker mood over them and even Kristoff was having trouble focusing. Oddly, he had no trouble with digging out a snow cave to survive in the cold winter, but caves of rock and darkness had always bothered him. He much preferred the open skies of the mountains. "Just a cave. A nice, big, open cave with lots of room and no tumbling rocks burying you up to your nose," he chanted, trying to hide his agitation.

Elsa looked at him, still worried, but soon noticed as a strange sound filled the cavern around them. "What was that?" she asked, stopping. Everyone else did the same.

"Did it sound like a pile of rocks sliding towards us?" Kristoff asked nervously.

Again, there was a strange, tonal sound filling the caves accompanied by the sounds of rocks grinding against one another, something that put Kristoff further on edge. It was the tonal sounds that struck Elsa, however, and she stepped a few steps forward to try and focus on it. "No, it sounded like that."

As the clamor continued, the group was on edge and Sven's ears danced all around, trying to isolate the source. Elsa instinctively raised her hands out and scanned the dark recesses of the caves, but found nothing but the dim lights of the torches and some strange glowing moss. Suddenly, a large, bulky form crashed into the cave and screeched with a pitched whine. The Xenolith was stumbling around violently and each glimpse of a distant torch furthered its panic, but seeing this new group focused its rage and it loomed over them, flaring out sharp claws and glowing ominously in the dark. Its appearance took everyone by surprise.

"What is that?" Elsa yelled, jumping back.

"Never seen that before!" Kristoff yelled back, trying to position himself between it and the others, his snow axe in hand.

"Maybe he's a nice rock monster?" Olaf suggested, but the Xenolith took a swing at them, making them scatter into the cavern.

"I'm guessing that's a no!" Kristoff replied and looked for Elsa.

A flash of light filled the cave as Elsa thrust her hand out at the Xenolith and a blue, frozen crust formed over the creature's arm. Another flash of light froze the creature's leg to the ground and it screeched loudly, but was unable to move.

"Hah! Got him!" Kristoff cheered.

To their disappointment, the Xenolith pulled its leg free of the ice and stumbled around to them, obviously not shaken by her magic. Elsa winced and attempted to freeze the entire creature with both hands, changing it from a looming black monster into a frosted blue statue. Even then, the ice around its joints cracked free and the creature was able to move as it lumbered towards them again. Its immunity to her magic made Elsa panic. "It's not working!" she cried, this time swirling her hand up through the air and causing three snowmen to rise up from the ground around the creature.

"Go forth, my brothers…and sister!" Olaf yelled from Sven's back, glad to see his siblings getting some action. The three attacked the Xenolith, but did very little against it. The massive creature was able to shatter the snowmen with giant swipes of its clawed hands and soon, its attention turned back to the group.

"That's not good," Olaf sighed.

"What do we do?" Elsa cried, trying to overpower the creature with a concentrated blast of magic. It was holding it at bay for the moment, but it was obviously draining Elsa as well. She had never focused so much of her power into a single place before.

Kristoff was trying to think. He was looking around with his ice axe in hand, though he felt entirely useless as Elsa was trying to fend off the creature. Her magic easily overcame the creature's rocky body, but being made of solid rock and rigid, it was still able to move even after being frozen solid. Inwardly, he cursed that he felt so useless, even then. When Anna and Elsa both needed him, all he could do was stand there and watch, frozen in place.

As the icy body of the Xenolith stumbled back and forth, Kristoff suddenly snapped out of his daze. He stared intently at the creature and adjusted the axe in his hand. "Keep freezing it!" he yelled, suddenly skidding to the side of them.

Elsa's concentration wavered a moment and the Xenolith stumbled forward through her magic, though she quickly renewed her push and halted it. She was straining greatly. "It's not working!" she cried, taking a step back. Her magic was beginning to weaken and the Xenolith was taking steps towards her, which frightened her and shook her concentration even more.

"Just a little more!" Kristoff yelled, still dancing around the two as he passed the axe from hand to hand, his eyes searching every inch of the creature.

Elsa had no idea what he was doing. The strain against the Xenolith made her knees wobble and she took another step back, where her heel hit an embedded rock and she stumbled backwards. Hitting the ground and her magic no longer keeping the creature at bay, Elsa looked up to find it crashing towards her, screeching with its terrible, tonal sounds. With her magic useless, she clawed her hands up to defend herself, realizing it was futile. She had no defense against the Xenolith.

"There!" he suddenly called, and the axe came hurling through the air at the creature. The metal head struck the frozen Xenolith in an unimportant spot, but the impact caused it to stop its assault on Elsa. A strange, resonating tone was vibrating through its body and its limbs began to shake. Soon enough, cracks began to appear in its body, and its limbs were shaking badly. The cracks soon shattered the Xenolith's body, and it crumbled into a screeching pile in front of Elsa, who was staring in disbelief. Its yellow eyes and the ethereal red markings disappeared from the depths of its body, and it no longer moved at all.

"Are you all right?" Kristoff asked, hurrying over to help her to her feet.

Elsa kept staring at the pile in front of her. "That was amazing!" she said, suddenly looking to him with an impressed gasp. "How did you do that?"

He was a bit surprised by her response, but scratched at his hat with a nervous hand. "Oh, well even the hardest ice has weak spots. Fracture points and shear planes are some of the first things you learn to look for, especially when walking out onto a frozen lake for the first time. This thing looked sort of like an ice crystal anyway, but with you freezing it, I was able to find those weak spots. The harder it is, the easier it shatters," he explained, looking down at the shattered, frozen crystals.

Elsa was impressed. Secretly, she had patronized his skills, and had given him his title of 'Ice Master' out of respect for his bravery and his relationship with Anna. There had been no need for anyone to go get ice from the mountains, when she could simply wave it into existence. However, she now realized that while she commanded snow and controlled ice, he _understood_ them on a level that she did not. She forced it into being with her imagination and her emotions, but he saw the details in it and understood its nature.

In some ways, he was more of a true Ice Master than she ever would be, even with her magic. It made her look at him in a new way.

"You saved me," she said.

Kristoff was uncomfortable under the attention and looked around for his axe, using it as an excuse to get out of the spotlight. "Oh, come on. It's not like I could let anything happen to you. Anna would kill me," he said, which drew an amused smile from her. Finding the axe near the Xenolith, he picked it up and slipped it through the leather ring at his belt, letting it hang back in its place.

He turned back and faced her. "So, I guess I'll protect you both."

Elsa watched him scratching at his head nervously and managed to let a true smile escape her troubled face. It was obvious why Anna had fallen for him and why Elsa so easily approved of their relationship. The murmurs of tradition had flared up when she had given her consent, but she was glad, now more than ever, that she had squashed them and never given them a second thought.

Anna and Kristoff deserved to be together, and Elsa would protect that just as strongly as his own desire to protect them.

"I'm counting on you, then," she said, giving a glance down to the shattered Xenolith before heading back to where Sven and Olaf were waiting. Kristoff nodded and followed, fully intent on living up to his expectations and feeling a surge of confidence inside. If he could defeat a giant rock monster, he could save Anna from whoever had taken her.

In fact, he was sure of it.


	5. The Exile

**V**

The Exile

Anna squirmed and groaned as her dress was being torn from her. Yasha was rough and his dagger was cutting through the fabric in jagged lines, making her wince at each stroke and fear an accidental slip across her skin. He seemed just as disturbed by the situation as she was and she looked down at him as he concentrated on tearing the material apart, her hands pressed down tightly across her thighs to hold what was left of her dress in place.

The fact he was not good at this strangely relieved her.

"The tailors in your Arendelle should be commended. I have never seen such resilient cloth," he griped, pulling a strip of her dress harshly until it finally broke away. Anna squealed as he nearly pulled the top of her dress down.

"Hey, be careful!" she yelled, embarrassed as she wrenched the straps up over her shoulders again.

Yasha wheezed and sat back against a rock, his face covered in sweat and his eyes closed. In one hand he had new strips of her clothing for the markers, in the other his black dagger rested against his leg. He slowly opened his eyes to her. "My apologies, Princess, but your sister would not find the path without a bit of help," he said, and the reference to the path made her shiver.

For the time being, she understood his reasons for marking their route. The caves were expansive and dangerous. Elsa could easily get lost as she tried to follow them. She ultimately wanted Elsa to find her, but only after she had a chance to talk with him and dissuade him from his task.

"Well, by the time we reach your grotto, I'm going to be dress-less," she complained, looking over her mangled clothing. The idea made her face blush and she glared at him, pressing her hands across her skirt protectively. "Don't think I'm not on to you…" she warned.

Surprisingly, a tired laugh burst from his lips and he leaned his head back against the rock. "Do not fear. I shall do my utmost best to see you arrive clothed and untouched." His voice was unusually playful, and she was shocked at how different he looked when he smiled.

"That's a likely story," she said, still eyeing him.

Watching him rest, Anna was strangely not afraid of him anymore. He appeared far more human that before and, even knowing his dark intentions, she felt like she could trust him. Her eyes wandered down to the dagger in his hand. The strange markings that moved across the blade fascinated her and she took a deep breath before stepping over to him and kneeling at his side. Her closeness visibly made his posture tighten and his eyes slowly opened to her. They were cautious, and he was silent.

"Can I see that?" she asked, gesturing her hands slightly towards his lap.

Yasha continued to look at her in a guarded manner. The blade tapped against his leg a few times as he considered her request, but he did not instantly deny her. With a quick motion, he swung the dagger around until the blade lay across his forearm and the handle was presented to her. His eyes were still locked on hers. He said nothing as he held it out.

Anna was surprised at the act of trust, yet at the same time she had expected him to comply. Their relationship was so very bizarre. Reaching out, she slipped her fingers around the dagger and pulled it from his palm, sliding the blade across his skin with an audible scrape. It was heavier than she remembered, but the blade was just as stunning. She held it up in front of her face and stared at the wispy markings, trying to find where they began and ended. They seemed alive in the black blade, and they appeared almost as smoke, swirling around in some unknown purpose and displaced from the world itself. Then they disappeared just as casually.

"It's beautiful," she said in awe.

Yasha continued to watch her face, ignoring the blade. His hands were clenched with anxiety. "It is a Xenocryst. Very few are ever forged in the fires of Fria," he explained.

"It looks just like that thing that attacked us," she said, looking past the blade to him. The memory of the Xenolith made her shiver.

"You might say they are _born_ from the same place," he replied.

Anna's attention had drifted from the dagger and lingered on him. The way his eyes showed such fierceness and fear made the back of her neck feel hot. A quiver ran through her and the tip of the dagger slowly fell forward, resting against his chest. She could not even blink.

"It's beautiful," she repeated, quieter this time.

Yasha was motionless with the dagger at his heart. His eyes were frighteningly calm in light of the danger, and his chest was slow in its rise and fall against the bite of the blade. Very slowly, he reached up and wrapped his hand around it, his movements deliberate and focused. He took the dagger from her and scraped himself up from the rock, moving rigidly and slow. Stabbing the dagger into his belt, he grabbed his robes from the floor of the cave and gestured forward. "Shall we?" he said, obviously disturbed.

Anna shook off her wandering mood and rose to her feet. She noticed, for the first time, that he had not simply walked on and left her to follow. He was inviting her to walk with him. That gave her hope and she followed his gesture, intent upon getting to his grotto and hearing him finally tell her of himself and of his task.

After what seemed like forever since her abduction from Arendelle and leaving a trail of tattered fabric in their wake, Yasha escorted Anna into his grotto. The strange, glowing moss that sporadically dotted the caves was much brighter here, and the grotto was lit up like the grand ballroom of her castle. There was a pool of crystal clear water and hundreds of spiky rock formations hung from the ceiling and floor, often times ringed with the glowing moss. On a flat area, there was a rough collection of broken furniture and a roll of fur bedding. It was obvious that he had lived there a very long time.

"Welcome to my home," Yasha said unceremoniously, walking towards the bedding area and tossing his heavy robes down.

Anna was awed. Despite the dank nature of the cavern, the bluish light that filled the place made it beautiful to her and she felt almost like she was dancing as she slowly twirled, looking all around. Soon enough, the crystal pool caught her attention and she licked her dry lips. "Water! Oh, finally!" she cried, jumping forward and dropping by the pool. She began to scoop the cool water into her mouth and relish in the feeling of it running down her throat. She had not realized how thirsty she had been.

"That water is poisonous," Yasha said coolly, not turning to her as he took various items out of his robes, including a well-worn bamboo flute.

Anna sprayed water from her mouth and began coughing wildly, turning to him with fearful eyes and her tongue hanging out. "Poisonous?" she repeated, her tongue garbling the word.

Yasha looked at her, a perverse smirk on his face. "A joke," he admitted.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Oh, you're so not funny," she snarled. While he did not laugh as he had before, she could tell he was very amused by his trick and she snorted at him, then used her mangled dress to dry her face off.

The water in her nose was still burning and she was trying to figure out a way to get back at him as she pulled the shredded material down her face, but soon found a strangely warm sensation tickling her cheeks. She slowly opened her eyes to a brightly burning flame hovering just inches from her face. It was made of fire, but in the shape of a girl, and it was glaring at her intently. Anna blinked a few times, wondering if she was seeing things. The creature did not go away.

"Uhm, Yasha…?" she said, not taking her eyes from it.

"So you're the bait…" the small creature suddenly said.

Anna blinked again. It had just talked to her. "Bait?" she repeated, a bit offended.

"Behave yourself, Sid. She is a princess and a guest," Yasha said, approaching them both.

The small creature floated a bit closer, still glaring. "She looks like bait," it replied.

Anna was once again offended, but even more curious. She had never seen anything like this before and she felt lost in their apparent acquaintance. "Who…and what is this?" she asked, leaning back slightly from the heat of the creature.

"Her name is Sid. She is…" Yasha began, shifting his eyes over to the creature, "Noisy and ill-mannered."

Sid flared at him and stabbed her small hands onto her hips. "How rude!" she glowered, then glared back to Anna. "Listen, girly, what I am is the only woman Yasha needs. So don't get any ideas. You're just bait. Bait bait bait."

Anna kept staring at her, her mouth barely hanging open. "Uhm, okay?"

"She is something born from my magic, many years ago. Strangely, she never dispersed like my other flames," he explained, looking over the sprite.

Sid zipped in front of him and crossed her small arms dramatically. "You say that like it's a bad thing," she pouted.

Anna followed the sprite with her eyes. " She's just like Olaf," she said, smiling slightly.

Yasha looked to her, his brow furrowed. It took him a moment to figure out her meaning. "If you mean that annoying creature born from the Snow Queen's powers, then yes, she is just like that," he replied, though Sid glared at him again for the 'annoying' part.

Anna's mind was working away as she looked at Sid. His powers really were like Elsa's, able to create living things out of nothing. Thinking of these things reminded her of his promise, and she shifted her eyes over to him. "You said you'd tell me everything, about you and your powers," she reminded him.

His eyes darkened. "That I did," he conceded.

"You don't have to tell the bait anything," Sid objected, but was quieted by a glance from him.

"This discussion is not for you. You have a task. Now go," he said, nodding his head to the side. Sid tried to object again, but ultimately scowled and zipped away into the caves, leaving them alone. Yasha sighed and walked over to a stone rising near the pool of water, his eyes staying on Anna. It was obvious he did not want this conversation, but was obligated to keep his word. He sat down heavily, gesturing his hands at her.

"Ask your questions."

With free reign, Anna suddenly realized she had no idea what to ask him. There were too many things she wanted to know, and she did not know where to begin. A dozen half-formed questions escaped as sighs over her lips, but nothing seemed to come out. She was starting to get annoyed at herself. "How do you have these powers?" she finally asked, mostly because Sid was still on her mind, and because maybe knowing the origins of his magic might give her some insight into Elsa's powers.

It was not what he expected her first question to be. "The FireHeart," he replied simply.

"The FireHeart?" she repeated, looking confused.

"The FireHeart is deep within the volcano Fria. It is a magical and ancient thing, and there are those that are born who are touched by its power," he explained, raising out his hand and letting a small flame grow brightly in his palm. While she was amazed at the power, she also looked to him with worry, afraid he would once again suffer the pain of using his power. However, he did not appear bothered by such a small flame.

"Those that are touched? How many are there like you?" she asked, leaning towards the swaying flame.

Yasha winced. "A few of us each generation. Of this generation," he said, closing his hand around the fire and drowning it out, "I am the last."

Something about that bothered her. "What happened to the others?"

"Those touched by the Heart are revered among my people. We live lives of privilege and comfort, until the day we turn fifteen. Then, by tradition, we are banished from our home, our families and our people, forced to live in exile of Fria until the one day we are given a task, the task that allow us to return home. Most never return," he explained bitterly.

Anna knew his task, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Who gives you this task?" she asked.

Yasha's eyes burned. "Nazir, King of the FireHeart," he replied. The name sent chills down her back and she could feel the animosity he had for the man, simply by speaking his name. She hoped to never have her name spoken in such a way. "Sovereign of Fria. A man as old as the mountain, and the FireHeart itself. He gives us a task of his choosing, our only path to return home."

"And your task is to kill my sister," she said, looking to him coldly.

Yasha nodded. "When news of a frozen kingdom to the west reached Fria, Nazir knew such power would be a threat to the FireHeart, perhaps the only thing that could stop the ancient flame. I am the last of those touched by the Heart, and so my task was clear. Kill the Snow Queen," he explained, though his expression was odd and he would not look at her.

"Elsa's no threat to you! Freezing Arendelle was an accident, and she has no reason to touch this FireHeart of yours. Why can't you just explain that to him?" Anna pleaded with him, scooting closer.

"I could not enter Fria to even try. _Step but one foot into Fria, and instantly forfeit your life, but in favor of the King._ Those are the terms of my exile, Princess," he said bitterly. It was obvious how much pain it caused him to be away from home. "And the King would not listen, and his word is law in Fria. The death of the Snow Queen assures the legacy of the FireHeart. He does not care for you or me or anything but the Heart. And his task is the only way that I may return home to my people."

Anna suddenly became very angry with him. "That's why you'd do such a terrible thing? You'd sacrifice my sister, just so you can return to your life of privilege and comfort?" she cried, disappointed at her assessment of him. She had convinced herself that he was honorable and kind, and that all of his actions were somehow justified. Even his intent to kill Elsa seemed displaced from who she thought he really was, so much that she felt like they had been talking about a completely different person. But now his reasons seemed shallow, and his honor brittle.

She felt like she greatly misjudged him.

Yasha stared at her coldly. "Yes, I would," he admitted, something that infuriated her even more.

Anna lurched to her feet and flew at him, her hand slapping him across the face. While she had thought it would make her feel better, her hand was stinging and her eyes were hot, and she did not feel relieved. For the first time since they met, she felt like he was the monster he had once appeared to be. "You're definitely not a good person!" she yelled at him, unable to come up with anything better. Unstable and upset, she turned and ran out of his grotto, leaving him on his rock.

Yasha ran his hand over the bright red mark on his cheek and looked down into his reflection in the pool. The water distorted him and he felt the weight of his own eyes staring back. A sigh escaped his lips.

"No, I am not."

Anna did not run far. She only wanted to get away from him long enough to think. Even now, as her mind was convinced that he was acting for selfish reasons, her heart could not believe that was the only motive he had. As she tried to catch her breath, she rolled her eyes heavily and sighed, knowing that getting mad and slapping him would do little resolve the issue at hand. She still had to get him to quit his task, and knowing that the task was given to him by his king made her heart sink.

This was going to be harder than she thought.

Pushing her back against a thick column of rock, she slid down and buried her face into her arms. Despite the unorthodox nature of her kidnapping, she was tired of being alone with him. She wanted Elsa or Kristoff to be at her side as she tried to unravel the mystery of this man. She imagined that one of them could help her see the key that would unlock this chain of fate on him, and her mind was tortured by the riddles and contradictions surrounding his story. Many of his words still made no sense to her, even after his explanation. There was one thing that stuck like a burr in her memory.

_I will not sacrifice one kingdom to save another._

"What does that mean?" she asked to the silence of the cave. She was no closer to getting him to quit his crusade against Elsa and she felt like time was running out. Every heartbeat told her that time was passing around her and the moment when Elsa and Yasha would meet was moving towards her, like the unstoppable Xenolith crashing down upon her. Anna shivered, trying desperately to figure out how to stop it.

She had to stop it.

At once, she was aware of another person's footsteps grinding to a halt on the sandy floor of the cave. She was not ready to face Yasha yet and she cringed slightly, quaking in strange, quiet sobbing. She did not want him to see her frustration, and she kept her face hidden.

"Anna?" said a voice that was not Yasha's. Anna's head jerked up and her breath froze in her chest. At the same time, relief and fear washed over her. All reasonable expectations were thrown away as she stared, for she did not know which she was stronger at the moment, the relief or the fear. At the moment, she was a victim of both.

"Elsa!"

Time had run out.


	6. Triple Point

**VI**

Triple Point

Elsa rushed forward to Anna and embraced her. At once, the overwhelming relief at seeing her safe dispersed the dark aura that had been consuming her. Soon, she was busy pawing at her sister, half-laughing and half crying, all while looking her over for any sign of mistreatment or injury. "Oh, Anna. Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?" she cried, putting her hands affectionately on Anna's cheeks.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she laughed back, holding to her sister's shaking arms. A slightly guilty look washed over her as she shrugged, speaking from places other than her heart. "I'm really glad you came. I thought that maybe after our fight, you might not want to chase after me."

"That doesn't matter, Anna. You're my sister, and I'll always come for you," she replied and a warm smile overcame Anna's troubled face. "And it's not just me. Kristoff is here too, and Olaf."

"Kristoff?" Anna said happily, looking over her shoulder but finding no one else there.

Elsa nodded. "They're looking for the next piece of your dress," she said, looking down at the tattered fabric hanging from her body. Her eyes narrowed, and she was obviously reclaiming some of her anger.

Anna laughed sheepishly and tried to straighten her dress with her hands, feeling a bit embarrassed to be seen in such a state. "Oh! Yeah, I didn't think I'd make it before Yasha stripped me bare. That would have things a lot more awkward," she mused.

"Yasha?" Elsa said, her lips pursed.

Anna's face drained as she remembered just how volatile the situation was. She had come to speak of him fondly, yet realized Elsa probably thought of him far differently. She suddenly remember the monumental task ahead of her. "Oh, Elsa! I really need to talk to you about Yasha. He's…" she began, but the sound of another voice shattered the air.

"The Snow Queen has come." It was Yasha, and he was standing at the other side of the cavern with Sid buzzing around him. His eyes were locked on Elsa and his hands were clenched tightly at his side.

"Standing right behind you," Anna whined, finishing her sentence as she grimaced.

Elsa had whirled around to face the strange man and her eyes became frighteningly cold. His strange appearance and calm demeanor made powerful emotions flow up through her. He appeared like the criminal she thought him to be. The atmosphere in the cavern became hostile and a cold wind began to whip through the columns of rock and moss, completely defeating the hot air. All of the darkness she was holding inside began to boil out and a crest of frozen ground was spreading out under her. Her powers were thrashing under the will of her emotions. Control was slipping away.

"It was you…" she growled.

Yasha offered no reply, but Anna was frantically trying to figure out how to stop the tragedy before it began. She felt completely unprepared, but absolutely focused on talking them through this. "Wait, Elsa! Listen to me for a second…" she began, reaching out to calm her sister. When her fingers touched Elsa's shoulder, a flash of cold made her cry out and step back, looking at the frost that glazed her hand. Elsa's mood had fouled so much that she was consumed by it, and glaring at Yasha with every intention of finding out how she would punish Anna's kidnapper.

Her authority as Queen and her mystical powers were fueling the righteous fury that swirled in the icy air around her. In her heart, she felt like she was justified for anything she did to him.

"I won't forgive you for what you've done," she hissed.

Yasha was still quiet, but his eyes moved to Anna for a moment. He showed her an expression she had never seen on the face of a man. It was a striking reminder why she was trying to save him from himself. She knew that in his heart, Yasha did not want to do this. For fleeting moment, she thought he might actually step back from his task and give her the chance to defuse the situation, but soon the resolve in his eyes returned and he looked back to Elsa, lifting his hand up. Violent flames engulfed his hand, and he spoke to her in a deep, dangerous voice.

"As it should be."

Throwing his hand out, a powerful fireball flew through the air and slammed into the ceiling above Anna and Elsa, shattering the stone and making a wave of rock crash down at them. Both leapt away to avoid the avalanche of stone, and the air was filled with dust and heat.

After the rocks stopped falling, Anna was waving her hands in front of her to try and clear the air of dust, coughing loudly as she did. The burst scattered her mind for a moment and she was not sure what had happened. "Anna!" yelled Kristoff, who came running to her from another part of the caves after hearing the ruckus, with Olaf and Sven close behind. He reached down to help her up and was looking her over, desperate to see if she was hurt. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Kristoff," she wheezed, relieved at hearing his voice and she clutched him tightly. Before she could breathe again, she remembered just how much she had missed him. After taking a moment to embrace the safety of his presence, a flash of light and magic aroused her and she realized that the rockslide had separated them from the other side of the cavern, where Elsa and Yasha were doing exactly what she feared – fighting. "Oh no! Elsa! We have to get through!" she cried, leaning up on her toes and trying to see a way through the pile. The flashes from the other side showed only through small holes between the stones. "Elsa!"

"What's going on?" Kristoff asked, looking at the flashes of light seeping through. The pile of rocks did not disturb him, as he could no longer afford the distraction. "What happened to Elsa?"

"She's in there with the one who kidnapped me. He can use some freaky magic too and he plans on doing something terrible!" she cried, trying to pry a large stone out of the way.

Kristoff had a many other questions to ask her and wanted to take a week making sure she was okay after her ordeal, but Anna's frantic tone and hearing about Elsa's situation made him focus on the task at hand, leaving his chances to fawn over her until later. Instead, he turned his attention to the pile, using his strength to roll a large rock to the side. "Okay. Let's hurry and get her out of there," he said.

Anna grimaced as she worked and her mind was stuck the terrifying look on Elsa's face when she glared at Yasha. She also thought on how Yasha's fire powers, as fantastic as they seemed, weakened him very quickly. Knowing how powerful Elsa was and how uncertain his heart, she felt even more compelled to get through the blockage. "I don't think Elsa's the one in danger," she whispered.

Sven also moved in to try and pry stones loose with his antlers and even Olaf came to help. "We're coming for you, Elsa!" he cried and tried to lift a small stone from the bottom of the pile, though he only managed to lurch back, leaving his arms jammed under the stone and staring at them helplessly. "That's definitely not helpful."

As they tried to dig out the stones, a small trace of light came zipping through the stones and hovered in the air behind Anna, floating indignantly as they worked. It was Sid, and she seemed more agitated than normal. "Come on, Bait. Time to go," the sprite said, startling them all.

"Sid!" Anna cried, whirling to the small sprite. "You have to go tell Yasha to stop! I can talk to my sister. They don't have to fight."

Sid did not instantly fire back, as Anna expected. It was apparent that she was very concerned for Yasha, and the thought of the Snow Queen's magic sent chills through her tiny body. Even now, the pressure from her ice felt like it would snuff her out, and Sid wavered back in forth through the air, wanting to take her up on that offer. However, she had been given a job and she was compelled to finish it, despite how desperately she wanted to do as Anna said. "Sorry, but he told me to take you out of the caves and send you home," she replied, buzzing around slightly.

Anna sneered. "I'm not going anywhere until those two calm down and start talking like civilized, magical people!" she yelled, going back to the pile with all of her strength. Kristoff, who had been distracted by the small sprite, went back to helping her, as did Sven.

"Hey! The bait doesn't get a vote. Stop playing with those rocks and get moving," Sid replied, zipping back in forth as Anna ignored her commands. "Ugh, fine. I don't care if you stay or go." Stupid bait." Her small, fiery body flared in annoyance and she buzzed away, though she quickly came face to face with Olaf, who was staring at her in awe. She suddenly became more irritated. "What are you supposed to be? A walking snowball?" she asked petulantly.

Olaf was completely smitten as the small sprite glowed brightly in his eyes. "Oh, wow! You're beautiful," he said, leaning closer to her.

"Ewww! Get away from me!" she howled and kicked him in the nose, though her small size did not even budge it against his snow.

It did, however, light the end of the carrot on fire and Olaf shrieked, running in circles as the end of his nose burned. "Oh oh! Candles and snowmen don't mix!" he cried, finally coming to Sven, who casually leaned down and blew out the flames with a throaty puff of air. Olaf pawed at the black tip of his nose and sighed in relief, then laughed sheepishly as he looked up at the reindeer. "Do you think she likes me?"

On the other side of the rock pile, Elsa and Yasha were standing at odds, their hands raised at one another and both of them winded from their exchange. Scorch marks and thickly frozen stones dotted the cavern around them and the air was violently swirling from the clash of hot and cold. Elsa was staring at him, still suffering the rage in her heart. There were a thousand questions in her mind, especially in seeing him control fire the way he did, but her mind was losing to her heart, and her heart was stuck on the image of Anna sitting against the stone, her dress torn and her body shaking with tears. That anger stole all words from her, and she could only seethe at him.

Yasha was panting. There was a bright glow coming from his chest, though it was mostly covered by his shirt. He winced as the pain tore through him. The power of the Snow Queen was greater than he imagined and his plan to end it quickly, before his heart and mind could connect, seemed far away. "You are far less talkative than your sister, Snow Queen," he called at her, trying to gather his strength for another assault.

Elsa grimaced. "Don't talk about Anna!" she cried, throwing her hand through the air and sending spikes of ice rising from the ground around him, threatening to skewer him from every direction. The attack surprised him, but his movements were nimble and he avoided a number of the spikes. When their numbers overwhelmed him, Yasha finally drew his dagger from his belt and slashed at the ice, making it shatter dramatically around him. Elsa was surprised by that, and she suspected his dagger might have some kind of magical power to break her ice in such a way. She also knew, witnessing his skill and speed, that letting him get close to her with that dagger would be a lethal mistake.

The pain in Yasha's chest was growing and even moving with his dagger was starting to drown his mind with a red haze. Inwardly, he cursed the fact that he was so close to achieving his goal, yet had so many things working against him. Despite the fact that time was running out, he could not get the image of Anna's face, torn by sadness, out of his mind. It was not just the Snow Queen he was fighting; it was everything – his body, his mind and his heart. He only allowed himself a moment to curse the terrible fate he suffered before he refocused his efforts and held tightly to the one desire he had above all others.

_I must get back to the Heart._

Knowing it would only quicken his end, he called on his powers and touched the ground before him, where red markings much like the ones in his dagger appeared and surged forward at Elsa, through rock and dust alike. The markings pooled at her feet and suddenly surged up in a column of fire, though she had just been aware enough to jump out of the way. His fire did destroy the wispy cape of her dress, showing it had the capacity to dissolve her powers, if she were careless enough to get caught by it. A few more of the marking trails surged at her and she was quick enough to avoid them, but she could not focus on them and him at the same time, and before she realized it, she had moved dangerously close to him. With fearful eyes, she looked as he lunged at her, his dagger poised to strike, and her hand raised out just in time meet him with a bubble of her magic. The pulse threw him harshly back against the cave wall and he fell harshly onto his stomach, groaning loudly. His dagger was thrown to the side and away from him, leaving him reliant on his powers now. Elsa could barely hear over the thundering of her heart and she took a moment to catch his breath, staring at him as he tried to drag himself up from the ground.

Yasha lingered a moment, raised on his elbows but his forehead pushed against the stone floor. Dust burst from around his face with each ragged breath and his chest was burning painfully. But he would not succumb to it. He would not give in to the temptation to quit. An image of himself bowing before King Nazir flashed into his mind and his fists clenched tightly in the dust, his teeth grinding in his ears. "I will not…" he growled into the ground, and the words caught Elsa.

"What?" she asked, shivering at his sudden change of aura.

Yasha pushed his feet below him, scraping loudly on the dusty stone. He stood against the pain that racked his body, and his dirty hair hung messily across his face. His eyes were glowing bright orange, and the glow across his chest now seemed to burn out right through his clothing. For the first time since meeting him, Elsa's fear overcame her anger and she stepped back, feeling the unrelenting heat from him. To her, he seemed like an entirely different person.

"I will not stop here!" he yelled and flames burst from the ground behind him. They swirled around him and rose to three times his height, where they then began to form into something terrible. A great dragon formed of his flames, and threw two sprawling wings out into the cave around him. Its roar shook the air and made Elsa gasp. As beautiful as it was, with a churning body of flame, she was far more terrified of it and took another shaky step backwards. The dragon looked down at her with flaming eyes before rearing back and belching a powerful column of fire down at her, putting everything Yasha had left into a single pulse of magic. Instinctively, Elsa raised her hands up in defense and a thick wall of ice stopped the flames from reaching her, but she was surprised at how much more powerful it was than anything before. Her ice was keeping the flames from reaching her, but the dragon's size and appearance shook her, making it hard to concentrate. As she struggled against his flames, she happened to look through the ice and the fire to where Yasha stood, and his appearance made her heart tremble. His body was shaking and frigid, his face twisted in pain. It did not look like he was breathing and his chest was glowing so brightly that they almost eclipsed him.

But the most striking thing about him was his eyes. They were glaring at her with a ferocity that pierced her with fear, and they showed no sign of yielding. Even as she understood that his most powerful magic could not break through her defenses, she would not underestimate him or give him even the slightest opening. To do so would mean leaving herself at his mercy, and his wildly ferocious eyes seemed like they would devour her in a moment's weakness.

With their powers at a stalemate, Elsa used the refuge of ice to think of a way to end this. Thinking back on how he used his power through the ground, she had an idea and shifted her feet, even as she continued to hold back the dragon's fire with her hands. Stomping towards him, a crest of frozen ice surged through the ground, freezing everything as it went. He was obviously too engaged with his dragon to notice, and the crest burst from the ground right below him, reaching up with icy fingers and grabbing him, then clawing him up against the wall. As the ice encased him against the wall, from the bottom of his legs to the top of his shoulders, he howled in pain and struggled, but it was all in vain. He was frozen to the wall and defeated. The dragon was wailing as well as the ice rose up its body and into its wings, until it was completely frozen as well. It then burst into countless frozen shards of dust and disappeared from her sight.

Elsa heaved a sigh as she felt the relief from his flames and took a moment to catch her breath, staring as he struggled in his icy cocoon. He was completely at her mercy and she took a few shaky steps towards him, trying to focus enough to decide what to do next. The passion of the skirmish had cleansed the muddy anger from her, though she still felt dark desires towards him. The sounds of Anna and the others calling from the other side of the rock pile did not distract her as she approached him. His every breath was at her whim. His heart was beating only because she allowed it. A strange and intoxicating feeling came over her at those thoughts, at the complete dominion she had over him, and she could not keep herself calm.

This man was subject to her every desire. She felt as if she possessed everything about him, and that was an entirely new feeling for her.

She had to admit that she did not hate this new feeling.

As she fought with this new sensation in her heart, Yasha began wailing loudly as he twisted in her ice. The glow under the ice was getting brighter and soon began to crack the ice over his chest. Elsa was startled as the ice broke open, revealing a brightly churning ball of flame set deep within his heart. It was not like his other flames, and it enchanted her for a moment, as if she were staring into his soul. The intoxicating feeling and the thrashing core of flame in him made Elsa's breathing rippled through her body. She stared at him with her hand clenched over the rise and fall of her chest, and her lips were parted in shaking, uneven breathing.

Her heart pounding in her ears, she suddenly had no idea what was wrong with her.

From somewhere far away and deep within the earth, a rumbling rose through the stones of the cave and threw Elsa from her mood. Everything around her began to shake in resonance with the thrashing in Yasha's heart, and he continued to howl in pain. The shaking only grew worse and Elsa could hear the panicked cries from Anna and Kristoff, something that pulled her back further from her trance. She quickly began to realize that the shaking was not natural and was connected to flames that consumed her prisoner. Something was reacting to his defeat, and violently rattling the ground all around them. The danger was quickly becoming apparent. "Anna!" Elsa managed to cry, just as the shaking ripped through the caves and tore the rock down around them, leaving them in an underlying darkness, separated and frightened.

And then, everything was silent.


	7. Changing Paths

**VII**

Changing Paths

In the tangled mess of rock and fear, the darkness of the caves was winning against the light. Hours after Elsa's battle with Yasha, the caves were still creaking and dropping dust and rock all around, a product of the strange earthquake that followed his defeat. The ground beneath them seemed liquid and uncertain, and the pathways through the caves had changed. Some open paths were now closed off, while walls had fallen and revealed new paths, though they led into the dark unknown.

Elsa was standing silently, staring at the motionless body of Yasha. Her hands were clutching her arms and she was shivering, though not due to the temperature around her. The man was sitting back against a stone wall, his hands encased in ice up past his wrists, and his eyes were closed behind a drape of grimy hair. After their struggle, Anna and the others had gotten through to Elsa and found her unharmed from the ordeal. Amazingly, none of them were hurt from the earthquake, aside from some minor scratches and bruises. For Anna, it had been an overwhelming relief to find that Yasha had not been successful in his task, but also that he had somehow survived the wrath of Elsa's anger towards him. It had taken almost an hour to calm Elsa down and explain everything to her, but something seemed different as Anna talked to her, as if she had seen something in those dark caves that frightened her into silence. She had barely said anything since they moved into Yasha's grotto, and brought the unconscious man with them.

With Anna and Kristoff looking around the caves for another way out, Elsa was left to watch over him. Oddly, her demands had been the only thing she did speak strongly about, as she could not fight this urge she had to control him and keep his power in check.

As fearful as she was of this darkness that consumed her when he was around, she found herself drawn towards it, and was quietly doing what she could to keep it within sight.

He had not moved since passing out, and she began to relax and let her eyes wander around his grotto. The area was cluttered from the earthquake, and what little furniture there had been was destroyed by falling rock. The luminescent moss that had once brightly lit the place had weakened, leaving a dull gray mist in the air. To supplement the light, torches had been lit, but the flames bothered Elsa. She would not let her eyes linger on them for long. Still shivering, she paced around the grotto, looking over the broken wood and torn cloth of his pauper's den. It was hard to imagine that the man had lived in such conditions. To keep herself occupied, she examined the bedding area, her breathing making vaporous clouds in front of her face. Thrown to the side, she found a dented metal mask lying nearby. She reached down and picked it up, looking over the grotesque face.

_This must be the mask he wore when he took Anna._

The idea made her seethe and her eyes moved to him. He was still frozen in place, and she felt her anger at him swell again. To disperse it, she looked back to his things and found a bamboo flute remarkably untouched by the rocks. In contrast, the sight of such a delicate thing battled the image of him wearing the mask, and she marveled at how worn the areas were around the holes. The flute looked like it had been often played for many years. It was difficult to imagine him playing the beautiful instrument. As she went to pick it up, her attention was captured by something else, glimmering in the shadows. It was a ring, but terribly misshapen and made of poor metal. It did not appear damaged by the rocks, but made in such a way. There was a leather cord wrapped around it and likely worn as a necklace, which did not surprise her as she could not imagine the ring fitting on anyone's finger. Yet something about the ring fascinated her, as he appeared to take great care of it. She reached down to pick up the ring.

"Please do not touch that."

Startled out of her skin, Elsa spun around, her eyes wide and her hands raised out to defend herself. She found him still sitting back against the wall, barely breathing against his fatigue. She could see that his pale eyes were open, and they were on her, powerful and intent in spite of his weakened state. Even if he did not move, just the potency of his eyes was enough to put her on edge and keep her hands raised at him. Her breathing rocked her body back and forth.

"It is very dear to me," he added.

She took a moment to calm down, though she found she could not speak. During their short battle, he had come at her with such ferocity that the same adrenaline pumped through her body even now. It was not like the time her in ice palace, when the two lackeys of Weselton had come at her with arrows and cold eyes. That had been fearful defense. Her encounter with Yasha had been something else, burning with passion and fueled by anger. Feeling her magic pushed by his had been like nothing she had ever felt before, and the saturation of pride at his defeat was something that startled her so much that she almost believed she was a different person.

She had never once used her powers so cruelly, and she had never once felt such pleasure at their raw capacity.

The ring forgotten, Elsa struggled to regain her composure and slowly lowered her hands. She would not let him see how much he affected her. "I hope you're finished with this quest you have against me," she warned.

Yasha stared at her for a long time before replying. "For the moment."

His remark made her scowl and she glared harshly. While being at the disadvantage, he had a talent for getting at her. "You'll get no compassion from me. Anna has told me about you, but nothing she said releases you from the things you've done," she said sternly.

"No," he replied with a sigh, leaning his head back against the stone, "it does not."

She found that response unusual and her expression softened slightly. At once, she was beginning to see what Anna had meant about him. "You seem like you have some doubts, as Anna said. I hope that means you realize that you have no chance of fulfilling this _task_ of yours."

Yasha was quietly grinding his head into the stone wall behind him, his eyes chained to the Snow Queen. Never had he felt so helpless and weak, especially with his goal right in front of him. The ice that encased his hands prevented him from using his magic, though he realized it made no difference. Her power was far greater than his, so much that he almost laughed to himself about it. His task seemed like a joke played on him by a wicked king who sought nothing but entertainment. Even now, the pain in his chest was almost too much to bear and he could barely breathe. As much as he tried to appear powerful, his lips were about the only thing that would move according to his will.

His time was rapidly running out, and he still had much to do.

"No, it does not," he replied, showing his intention to continue with his task.

His stubbornness irritated Elsa. His casual acceptance of such a cruel fate for her and those she loved made a dark hatred boil up again, and she could not control it. Coiling her hand out at him, the ice at his hands grew up to his elbows and caused him to groan. Elsa's eyes were coldly upon him. "This is your last chance. I won't allow you to hurt me or my sister again."

Yasha felt the numbness creeping up his arms and breathed heavily, his eyes still fighting her. "This will not end until one of us is no more, Snow Queen," he said, though struggled to sound as strong as before.

Elsa's eyes darkened even more. "Then it will end now," she replied, fanning her hand out at him and making the ice move further up his arms and onto his body. Yasha could feel the ice crushing down onto his chest and his breathing was almost completely restrained, yet he could not keep his eyes off of her. The look on her face was strangely familiar and he struggled to keep her in focus. In her ice, his hands were trying to move and he was trying to summon any of his magic, though he knew it was pointless. He was exhausted beyond measure and she was too powerful. There was a sort of poetic justice in losing his life to the Snow Queen, and he did not blame her for a moment. He had tried to do the same to her, and he knew that his true hatred lay somewhere else completely.

In the end, the only thing he regretted was not being strong enough to get back to the FireHeart and its master, King Nazir.

"Elsa!" cried out a voice, and it pierced the darkness around them. Anna rushed back into the grotto just as the ice was wrapping around Yasha's neck, and her eyes were wide with panic. She knew it had been a bad idea to leave them alone together, but she had thought Elsa was calm enough to let her and Kristoff go find a way out of the caves. She had never expected to come back and find such a horrible scene, and she quickly ran up and grabbed Elsa by her arms. "Elsa, what are you doing!? You need to stop!" she pleaded.

Elsa looked as if she had just woken up from a terrible nightmare and her body suddenly relaxed, her eyes breaking free from the darkness. She was panting heavily as she finally noticed Anna. "Anna?" she asked, searching her sister's eyes for some kind of answer to an unspoken question. Taking a few shaky breaths, she shivered in Anna's hands and let the familiar fear wash over her.

She had no idea what she had been doing.

"Anna, I…" she began, but lost any rational explanation to the groaning of Yasha as he writhed in her ice. Seeing what she had done made her step back from Anna and whimper, then turn from her and flee into the caves. As she left, the ice crushing Yasha quickly shattered into a burst of icy dust and let him lurch forward, taking deep, hacking breaths as he clawed at his neck with his hands.

Anna glanced at him in concern before chasing after Elsa.

Kristoff watched the whole scene with unsaid words hanging in his open mouth. His eyes shifted to Yasha as he groaned in pain, and no small part of him was satisfied in that. Like Elsa, he had nothing but contempt for this man after he kidnapped Anna, but it was also the fact that she had forged some strange bond with him that tore at the mountain man, making the sight even more of a guilty pleasure. He had already been holding himself back from walking over and pummeling Yasha, just to make himself feel better.

The fact that he was too weak to fight back did not even bother him. "Okay, I guess we're babysitting," he sighed, stomping over to a rock and sitting down. Slumping his chin onto his fist, he stared off into the caves, irritated and silent.

Elsa's panic had been disquieting for Olaf as well, but he knew to let the sisters have some privacy to work out their issues. Since he could not rush after Elsa, he decided to take a more active role in making sure there was no more trouble. "All right, then we'll be the best babysitters in this whole cave," he agreed, turning to Yasha with a stern look. The man had returned to sitting against the wall and was catching his breath, all while trying to get his blood flowing again. Olaf stalked over to him, showing an air of authority. "We've got our eyes on you, buddy, so don't try anything funny. Got it?" he warned, pointing his twigs at his own eyes and then thrusting them at him. "Eyes on you."

Yasha was barely paying attention to him, but the threat did make his eyes narrow slightly. He was exhausted, in pain and barely getting the numbness out of his hands, but the snowman irritated him enough to warrant him flicking out his hand weakly and causing Olaf's hand to catch fire. The sight of the flames made Olaf shriek out and scramble around the grotto to find a way to put it out, while Yasha slumped further against the wall closed his eyes tightly, trying to regain his strength.

He knew he had to ration his strength, but hearing the snowman flail over the flames was greatly satisfying.

* * *

"Elsa!" Anna yelled and finally got Elsa to stop running. The elegant Queen slumped as Anna approached her from behind and she was too scared to turn around and face her. She also had no answers to offer, as the time since meeting Yasha seemed like nothing more than a murky dream to her. She felt as if she had been fighting herself more than him.

"Elsa? Are you okay?" Anna asked, taking a step towards her.

"I don't…I don't know," she replied, rubbing her hands together nervously and letting her eyes wander all over the cave. As much as she wanted to be away from everyone, she had also desperately hoped that someone would chase after her. She was especially glad that it was Anna. "I just want to be alone for a bit. I need to clear my head."

Anna winced. This reminded her of their past and made her nervous. She feared that rift might open up once more. "I'm worried about you, Elsa. You haven't been yourself lately. You're quick to get angry, you don't talk to people anymore, you use your magic without thinking," Anna said, unconsciously rubbing her hand, still red from where her magic stung her skin. She had a moment of honesty. "That part of you scares me."

Elsa shivered once more and hugged herself. Hearing Anna admit that made the fear even stronger. "It scares me too."

Anna looked up from her hand and stared at her sister's back, watching her tremble. She knew she could never truly understand what she went through, being Queen and having those magical powers. In a way, they were far more different than they were alike. But Anna had long since conquered her fears and doubts when it came to Elsa, and she had proven she was willing to climb any mountain for her – to defeat any fear. She had done it once before, and she would do it countless times again. "I'm here for you, you know. Right here," she said.

"But you weren't there," Elsa said suddenly and turned, her face showing how frightened she was. "I looked for you and you were gone. Oh Anna, I was so scared. I thought I might never see you again."

Anna smiled softly, and stepped to her sister, taking her hands. She looked up at her, showing her the strength she would use to help her fight her fear. "I'll always be here for you, Elsa. Sure, I might get kidnapped now and again, but that doesn't mean we won't find each other again. I knew that you would come for me, no matter where I was. You should do the same," she replied warmly, squeezing her arms.

Elsa felt the fear lessen and she squeezed back, "I don't know what I'd do without you," she admitted. The fear never fully went away.

"You'll never have to find out. You're stuck with me. I'm sort of like a rash that way," she joked, trying to calm her down.

Elsa let laughter release some of the anxiety she had built up and she nodded, biting her lip. It was easier to forget those frightening moments when she did not know who she was, just as long as Anna was nearby to support her. The infinite value she placed on her sister's love was how she could feel such fear, yet at the same time, so much comfort. Elsa had never experienced romantic love or infatuation, beyond simple glances and distant thoughts, but she could not imagine it came close to the connection she felt with Anna – to be terrified and engrossed all at the same time.

Idly, she wondered if this was how Anna felt about Kristoff.

"Let's go back. If Yasha's awake, I'd really like you to talk to him," Anna suggested, keeping a tight hold on Elsa's hands.

Elsa's face drained at his mention, and her smile fell away to darker emotions. "I don't think I can. Something about that man…" she said, looking away. "It's frightening." Anna could not deny that. She had felt the same way, at first, but slowly she had pulled away his mask and found the truth beneath. It had been surprising to her, but also reassuring.

Yasha and Elsa were not so different, she thought. They both suffered from similar fears.

"I know we can find a way to resolve this. He's not the person you think he is," she explained. "I actually kind of trust him."

Elsa looked to her sharply, questioning her judgment. It was easy to fall back on the subject of Hans, where he had so completely fooled Anna and her open heart. Anna was not the same person as that time, but the underlying fact still remained. However, as she looked at her now, she did not see that blind admiration burning brightly in her eyes. Instead, it was confidence, and that confidence felt contagious.

"He doesn't seem like he's willing to give this up. He'll come after me again," Elsa worried.

Anna smirked. "Well, then you can freeze his butt to the ground and I'll smack that moody little smirk right off his face," she grinned, which also helped Elsa relax. Secretly, Anna also wanted to help Yasha with his problems, in a way that saved everyone involved. Working with him seemed a lot safer than the alternative. "If all he wants is to get home, I think we can find another way that doesn't involve 'destroying the Snow Queen.' You just have to give him a chance."

The uncertainty was evident in Elsa's eyes. She continued to search her sister for more confidence and held tightly to her hands. While she could easily overwhelm him with her magic, she did not feel like she could stand up to his powerful gaze and the determination that lived in his eyes. She also could not understand how easily Anna resisted the power of those eyes.

"I'll try," she said.

Anna smiled widely. "Great!" she cheered, turning back towards the grotto and tugging Elsa by the hand. "Let's get back before Kristoff decides to do something to him for the whole kidnapping thing. Ugh, men are so emotional," she said, hauling the reluctant Elsa back, eager to finally get a chance to mediate a lasting peace between Elsa and Yasha.

* * *

Yasha sat against the wall with his arms slung across his knees, idly touching each finger across his thumbs to try and get his dexterity back. His eyes were pressed shut. In his mind, he was calculating how much strength he would have by the time the Snow Queen returned, how Anna's actions might give him an opportunity to strike and how likely it was he would be able to escape in the aftermath. The simple thought of Anna made him frown, and curse the fact that this was all he could think of, but he was resolved to not waste the opportunity he had been given.

In his heart and mind, he knew there was no chance he would succeed, but it did not stop him from considering it.

"Such a pitiful state you're in, boy," said a deep voice that resonated in his mind. Yasha's eyes instantly flew open and he stared into the darkness of the cave, the rings of orange once more glowing in them. He knew the voice. He felt the presence.

Slowly, his eyes fell down to the small, brightly glowing flames hovering within the space his arms created. It was Sid, and she was hidden in his lap, but she was not acting like her usual self. Instead, what Yasha saw was the silhouette of a tall, dark man in the depths of her flames, glaring harshly and cruelly back at him. Yasha's eyes narrowed and the hair stood on the back of his neck.

"King Nazir," he whispered, barely hiding his tone.

"Is it done? Is the Snow Queen no more?" the figure asked.

Yasha's eyes slowly moved from the image to Sid's entranced face, his mind finally coming to grips with what he had suspected for the longest time. If it were true, Nazir already knew the answer to the question, and was simply rubbing salt in his wounds. He learned that he could despise the man even more. "I have failed. She is too powerful for me," he replied, but felt strangely relieved by that.

"Yes, Lind's child is quite powerful. It's no surprise that you failed," replied the figure, and Yasha's hands clenched tightly into fists.

_You knew I was no match for her, and still you sent me on this cursed errand._

"But no matter. You still live, and that's enough. Return to the Scoria Chamber, and bring the Snow Queen with you," the figured ordered, and all of the tension dissolved from Yasha's body.

For a moment, he was in utter disbelief. "Return to Fria?" he gasped, afraid he had imagined it.

"You've proven your worth. Return to the Chamber and enter the Heart. Afterwards, you'll be more than a match for the Snow Queen. Destroy her with the power of the FireHeart, and assume your rightful place," Nazir continued.

Yasha could not believe what he was hearing. Not only would he return home, but he would embrace the FireHeart and be given the power he so long desired. Just the pale connection with Nazir had been quickly refilling his strength and making the burning in his chest subside. If a glimpse of the Heart's true power could invigorate him this much, he could only imagine what returning would mean.

With Nazir's ghostly touch upon him, he suddenly could only think of one thing – joining with the FireHeart. "I will bring her, my King," he said, resolutely looking at the figure with his orange eyes.

The ghostly image in the flames began to fade, leaving him with a warning. "Come quickly, boy. You don't have much time left."

As the figure disappeared, Sid suddenly dimmed and fluttered down into his lap, lying against him as she tried to recover. After a moment, she looked up to him, afraid of the look she would find on him. "I'm sorry, Yasha," she said weakly.

He looked down at her, still digesting his new task. The revelation of her true nature might have hit him much harder, had he not been allowed to fulfill his greatest wish. The truth might have very well broken his heart. "You are a servant of the King," he sighed, letting a bit of his emotions seep through.

"I don't have a choice. When the Heart calls to me, I have to obey. I don't want you to hate me, Yasha. Please don't hate me!" she cried pulling at his seemingly inflammable clothing.

Yasha sighed again and laid his head back against the stone, his eyes heavy. There was so much to think about, and he was glad none of the Snow Queen's entourage had been listening to the conversation. To realize that Nazir had watched his every move for so many years made Yasha feel some of the old anger, but he also let a bittersweet sigh come out through his pursed lips, as if he could accept that defeat. "You have been my only friend for many years, Sid. I could not hate you," he replied, then looked down to her. "And it seems you and I are not so different. When the Heart calls, we obey."

It was just one more defeat that he had to accept to get what he wanted.

Sid showed her overwhelming relief at his words and clutched to him. Her tiny body relaxed and she wished to never move. "I can't disobey the King, but it was you who made me. You're the only one that I care about. You have to believe that," she sighed weakly.

"I believe you," he replied softly, leaning his head back as he watched Kristoff and the others jump up at the return of Anna and Elsa. The strength had returned to his body and his mind was frighteningly clear. His eyes settled on Elsa and focused even more. The true path forward was starting to reveal itself to him and he stared at her, clenching his fists rhythmically to test his strength. Without him realizing, his eyes were avoiding Anna. That was a distraction he did not need. Instead, would only look at Elsa, and see this through to the end.

"It is time to approach this differently."


	8. Fire and Ice

**VIII**

Fire and Ice

"So nothing happened?" Anna inquired, stepping up on her toes to look over Kristoff's shoulder at Yasha, who was still sitting against at the other side of the grotto. It was a relief to see nothing else had gone out of control while she chased Elsa down, but that in itself was slightly disappointing to her. With Kristoff's anger and Yasha's stubbornness, she was surprised she had not come back to fires and ice axes flying all around. "You didn't punch him or kick him or anything?"

Kristoff wiped his face with his hand, barely containing the disbelief. "Oh come on, if you're going to get mad at something I _didn't _do, at least let me know ahead of time so I can actually do it," he groaned. It was like she was disappointed he had not gone against her wishes and slugged the guy. Women were so difficult to understand. "All he did was sit over there and mumble. And he might have lit Olaf on fire."

"He lit Olaf on fire?! You don't think that's something?" she yelled back, looking down to the snowman's poor, burned twigs.

"I'm half the snowman I used to be," Olaf sighed, cringing as his hand creaked and crackled when he opened and closed it.

While Anna and Kristoff bickered, Elsa had been standing to the side, her eyes cast across the cavern, staying on the man as he sat motionless against the wall. Just seeing him again made her apprehension rise, and she was rubbing her hands together nervously, remembering how easily it had been to push her ice all over him. Just his presence, and the magic that flowed through him, made her head cloudy.

And once more, she was subject to his frightening eyes.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, breaking her from her trance. Elsa saw the concern in Anna's face, and realized she had called her a few times before she realized it.

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired is all," she said nervously, keeping her attention on Anna for the moment.

Anna reached out and rubbed her hands, finding them very cold. That was strange, as the weather had very little effect on Elsa. Instead, she realized it was probably her mood influencing her powers. Normally, that would have been a chilling thought, but Anna knew she could help her keep them under control.

Yasha, on the other hand, was someone she had no idea how to handle.

"Come on. I'll be right here with you. If he gets mouthy, we can do the whole frozen-butt thing," she said with a light smile.

Elsa felt the support in her touch and smile. She had been naïve to think she could control him, but even more so that she could control herself around him. It was difficult figuring out who had the advantage between them, since even in his weakest state he could disturb her so. A part of her also feared that she would have to resort to putting an end to their conflict, as she was not convinced at all the man would listen to reason and give up his task.

Anna dragged Elsa over to Yasha, who continued to sit against the wall and watch them silently. As they approached, Anna noticed that the mouthy fire sprite was with him, and her presence made her frown. That was something the situation did not need, but she was pleasantly surprised when Sid appeared to be asleep and did not move at their arrival.

She could now focus her attention solely on Yasha. "Uhm, hi. Remember me from that whole kidnapping thing?" Anna said sheepishly, trying to break the ice. Yasha's eyes moved slowly from Elsa to her, but he said nothing. She noticed how ragged he appeared. "So, I know you've already met, but Yasha, this is my sister Elsa. She's that _Snow Queen_ you're so on about, but I think now that everyone's calmed down, and you kind of already got your butt kicked, I think we can have a nice, quiet conversation about how you'll, you know, not try and kill her now."

A very awkward silence settled over all of them. Anna stood expectantly, Elsa still in fear. Kristoff was amazed at how strange that entire introduction came out, while Yasha's eyes had moved back to Elsa, though he continued his silence.

"So nice to meet you!" Olaf suddenly said, jumping out and offering his arms out to Yasha. "I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs." When Yasha's eyes moved to him and glimmered with annoyance, Olaf sucked his singed arm back in and remembered the last time he saw that look. He laughed a bit nervously. "But not that warm. Your hugs are a little too warm. Hot, actually. Like burning fire."

Anna felt like the atmosphere was much better now and nodded triumphantly. "Great, it sounds like everybody is friends now. I knew the whole thing was just…" she began, but Yasha suddenly interrupted her in a powerful voice.

"I wish to speak with the Snow Queen. Alone."

Elsa winced at the idea and took a step back, her eyes filling with apprehension. Anna felt the blow to her efforts and glared at him, feeling angry that he still wanted to command the mood. "Oh, I don't think so, mister. The last time you had a little chat with her, things didn't end so well for you, if you remember," she sneered.

"You wish me to give up on this quest against you? There is a way, Snow Queen. All you must do is listen to my proposal, and decide," he said, his eyes locked on Elsa.

Elsa was squirming under his gaze and rubbing her hands together harshly. Anna was not oblivious to her mood and stepped between them, glaring intently at Yasha. "Anything you have to say, you can say it to all of us. You got the whole set as soon as you kidnapped this princess from her bedroom," she declared, stabbing her hands onto her hips. She was fuming at him for trying to ignore her, especially after what they had been through together.

Yasha shifted his eyes to her. "And I promised to send you home unharmed when I had what I want, something you obviously did not embrace when you had the chance," he said with a smirk, though it did not diminish her anger at him. Strangely, he could not keep his eyes on Anna for long and he looked beyond her, to where Elsa was hiding in the background. "Your answer, Snow Queen? Would you listen, or shall we continue this dance until my terms are fulfilled?"

While Elsa ground her hands together, Anna growled and once again jumped between them, crouching in front of Yasha and stabbing her finger into his nose, much to his surprise. "Don't you sit there and ignore me! I didn't put up with your brooding for this long just to be ignored. If anyone's going to do a dance around here, it'll involve me doing a folk-kick on your backside," she threatened.

"Very well," Elsa suddenly barked, making them all look at her. Anna's finger was still stabbed at Yasha's nose and the two of them were surprised by her quick decision. Elsa stared at Yasha, her hands gnashed, but her jaw firm and her shoulders square. She wore the mask of the Queen, and her presence regained some of its authority.

She only wished she could mask the fear in her eyes as well.

"I'll listen to your request, if it will stop this madness."

Anna jumped up from her crouch and went to her, showing her concerns on her sleeve. "Whoa, hang on, Elsa. This isn't what I had in mind. You don't need to do this alone," she said.

Elsa looked reluctant, but also like she had made up her mind. "It's fine. If he wants to talk to a queen, then it's about time I act like one," she replied, trying to put on airs. Anna was not convinced, but Elsa suddenly relaxed a bit and put her hand across her arm, smiling to reassure her. "I'll be okay, because you're near."

The comment made Anna's heart soar and she held Elsa's hand tightly. "If he so much as breathes funny at you, I'll come back and sock him in the nose," she promised.

It made Elsa laugh slightly. "Thanks," she replied.

Anna gave her hand a final squeeze, then looked down at Yasha with a scowl. "If you so much as breathe funny at her, I'll…" she began when he raised his hands up at her, cutting her off.

"I overheard. I shall expect a good sock to the nose," he answered, placating her.

"That's right," she said, pointing at her eyes and then to him, "Eyes on you."

Olaf stared in disbelief when Yasha did nothing more than smirk at her in response. "Heeeeeeey…"

When Anna turned to leave them alone, Kristoff stopped her by grabbing her arm. He had been quiet for a long time, but the concern was evident on his face. "This isn't a good idea," he warned.

She looked at him a moment, then back to Elsa and Yasha. As much as Elsa was trying to appear in control, it was obvious she was still unstable, and Yasha stared up at her with his resolute eyes, intent upon setting his pace. The situation was flawed, but she embraced the fact that everyone was talking, not hurling fireballs or icicles through the air. She felt it was definitely an improvement. "Try not to worry so much," she advised, patting him on the arm and gesturing to the other side of the grotto.

As she walked off, confident that everything would work itself out, Kristoff eyed the two and shrugged in defeat. "Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea?" he sighed, then turned to follow her with the others in tow.

Now alone, Elsa continued to present a royal face, looking down at Yasha as if he were bowing before her. He continued to sit, his eyes on her and his hands dangling off his knees. More than she would admit, his freed hands distracted her and she wavered slightly, only to reinforce her will and speak to him as powerfully as she could. "Speak," she commanded.

Yasha did not obey right away, but continued to assess her. This was a new battle for them. It was a battle of wills, and unlike the apparent gap in their powers, he had far more confidence in his chances now.

"Return with me to Fria," he said candidly.

Elsa's royal posture shattered and she blinked at him. "I'm sorry?"

Yasha shrugged lightly, talking smugly towards her. "It is a simple request, Snow Queen. Send your sister and other companions back to your Arendelle. Journey with me to Fria, and I will no longer seek your life," he repeated.

Elsa had a hard time grasping his intent. She had expected him to demand some kind of payment or ransom, as she would expect any criminal to do. He had constantly destroyed any of her expectations of him, and that was frustrating to her. The very idea of being alone with him made a shiver run down her back. "I don't think so. Besides, Anna told me you couldn't return to your homeland," she pointed out.

"True, should I be found in my native land…" he began, then slowly pushed his legs under him and scraped himself up the wall to his feet, watching how it made panic run wild in her eyes. It was the response he wanted. He took a small step towards her, but purposely moved slowly, meticulously controlling the amount of terror he injected into her. "I would be killed. But I moved about your Arendelle with no great trouble, even into your castle. Taking the Snow Queen to the mountain would not be impossible."

Seeing him back on his feet made waves of anxiety ripple through her, and it felt very different to look up to him than look down at him. This was the commanding presence that Anna had warned her about, and she understood how dangerous it was. The way he spoke so casually about his feats irked her, especially as it was about his crimes against Anna, but she could not deny his confidence, or apparent skill. "I don't understand. Why would you want me to come with you?" she asked.

Yasha's pageantry faded away. His eyes became fierce. "To freeze the FireHeart," he replied.

Elsa was even more confused. "What? Isn't that exactly what your king fears and why he sent you after me?" she gasped.

"Indeed. That is exactly why King Nazir will never be prepared for it. Only your power can stop the ancient flame," he said. "And save my people."

"Save your people?" she asked.

Yasha shifted his eyes past her, to where Anna and the others were watching intently at a distance. He could tell that his movements had put them on edge, and he was amused at Anna's intense glaring at him. Yet, he knew he had made the right choice in speaking to Elsa alone. "Your sister told you of my desire to return home, but she did not tell you my reason," he explained, looking back to her. "The only thing I have ever desired is to see the FireHeart destroyed, and see my people freed from the tyranny of King Nazir."

Elsa could barely believe what she was hearing. This complexity made it impossible to continue to view him as a simple criminal, and even harder to cling to her deaf hatred of him. By the look in his eyes, she could tell he was not lying to her, though something was telling her that he was also still hiding many things. Her head was swimming with doubts and suspicions. "Isn't the FireHeart the source of your power? Isn't Nazir your rightful king?" she asked.

Yasha let his emotions slip and scoffed at her. "King Nazir has no right to rule over a people he cares nothing about. How could any king watch his people suffer and die, with no pity and no remorse?" he seethed, pacing slightly in front of her.

For the first time, she felt like she had seen his true self, the part of him that Anna had come to trust. "Your people suffer because of the FireHeart?" she pressed.

Yasha's attention snapped back to her and he realized he had been opening up too much about it. However, he had trouble controlling his passion, and his scheming mind lost out to his aching heart. "The FireHeart rests deep within Fria, the mountain my people have long thought as a protector. Its power brings fires so hot, it melts any stone and forges any metal, and these goods bring great wealth to Fria. But with that wealth, comes death and sickness. From the moment a child is born in Fria, it breathes ash and smoke. The heat burns skin and scars faces, and the tremors…" he scowled, unable to control the fury in his voice.

"The mountain opens up and devours those who are precious to us. And we continue on as a matter of routine."

Elsa was speechless. The situation he described was horrific and something she could not even imagine. Her own kingdom was serene and bright, and not without its problems, but her people smiled and prospered, as she dedicated herself to ruling them fairly. The idea of a ruler being cruel to his own people made her indignant to his disrespect of the throne. She was beginning to sympathize with Yasha. "That's terrible. I had no idea such a place existed. But how does freezing the FireHeart save your people?" she asked.

"Without the Heart, the fires will not burn. The mountain would not give Nazir the wealth he desires. There would be nothing to keep my people so close to the mountain's wrath, and they would be able to leave – to breathe fresh air," he explained, showing her the resolution he had for his plan. There was a markedly different tone in his voice now and he looked at her with new eyes, ones she had even a harder time resisting. "You have proven your power to be greater than mine, though I am but a sliver of the FireHeart's true flame. It would take all that you have to do this, and I would place my trust in one who has none for me. But there is no other path, Snow Queen, that does not require me to point my blade at you. As poor a choice as it is, it is the only one before you."

Elsa was searching his eyes. As far as she could tell, he was not lying about what he said, but she had discovered that her mind did not always prove clear when he was nearby. His stated reasons were nobler than she expected, and the thought of helping his people did attract her, as did the potential of stopping him from coming after her again. At the very least, when he did not have the bloodlust in his eyes, she was able to keep down the dark urges that sat just beneath the surface, threatening to lash out and cloud her mind once more.

In contrast to what he said, she felt she really had no choice.

"What about Anna?" she asked, turning her head slightly.

Yasha's gaze moved past her again and he met eyes with her sister. His expression did not change. "She cannot follow. The dangers of this plan should be apparent, and I cannot escort a regiment into Fria unseen. Tell her to return," he said coolly.

Elsa hesitated. Her head turned to the side, she wanted to look back to her sister for some kind of support, but her eyes would not follow, nor could she look back to Yasha with the sort of resolve he was expecting of her. "I…" she began, but found her voice was just as her indecisive as her eyes.

Yasha body tightened and he glared at her, traces of orange flaring up in his eyes. He was doing his best to control his impatience. "This is no time for uncertainty. There is much at stake here and no time for pause. It is you who decides our fate, but rest assured that I will proceed without such hesitation when the die is cast," he commanded, not giving her a moment's respite.

Elsa slowly looked up at him, finding his fierce expression intoxicating. Once more, the murky haze had touched the edges of her mind and she tried to speak, though nothing seemed to come out. This power he had over her felt stronger than before, despite the fact he had been weakened from their fight. She could not explain it, but only knew it felt similar to her magic as it flowed from her hands, only residing deeper and more intimately within her.

She found her resistance to him failing. "I'll come with you," she finally said, though her voice was weak and tethered to her murky mind.

Yasha did not relent in his gaze. "Send Anna away. Come with me to the Heart," he repeated, quietly and with much force.

Elsa could bear it no more and dropped her head, nodding as she knit her hands tightly across her waist. "I will," she answered, swallowing harshly. Her eyes were at his feet and she dared not meet his gaze again. She did not trust him, and she still feared him, but his words had a resounding effect on her mind and heart. Where she had previously dreaded the idea of being separated from Anna and at his mercy, those fears were muted in the haze of her mind.

Once more, she felt like someone else completely as she turned from him, took a deep breath, and walked towards her friends to tell them of her decision.

Watching her, Yasha's posture loosened and the orange faded from his eyes. Like her, he acted as if some invisible hand had suddenly let go of him and left him bewildered, though he was able to dismiss it as he had put his plan into motion. In truth, he had told her more than he wanted to, with so much he had held back. His guilt began to eat away at him, but he suppressed it with a glance to his belongings. His eyes lingered on the ring tied with the leather strap, it cleared his mind at once.

It was all set into motion. As soon as he brought the Snow Queen to the FireHeart, everything would finally come to an end.


End file.
